Houthi attacks in the Red Sea divert over 7 million containers

Iran backed Houthi militants in Yemen have been threatening global trade by targeting commercial vessels destined for the Suez Canal in the Red Sea. Beginning their offensive against western trade vessels on October 19, Yemen's Houthis have slowed down European supply lines and experts say consumers will be left holding the bill.

"Over seven million containers so far have been diverted," Ryan Petersen CEO of software supply chain logistics firm Flexport told CGTN, "Pretty substantially 90 to 95 percent of all the container ships that traditionally transit the Suez are taking the long route around Africa and in order in order to avoid these attacks by Houthi missiles."

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The Houthis began their attacks on the commercial shipping route and western shipping firms as a show of support for Palestinian efforts in the Israel-Gaza conflict, however international monitoring agencies including Human Rights Watch have called the attacks "arbitrary."  

And commercial shipping experts now say consumers will be left covering the bill for the extended wait times and product shortages.

"You're going to see harder to find goods, more stock shortages. Prices probably take a little bit longer to adapt, but if this lasts longer, you'll see higher prices for goods, said Petersen. "It's going to be more about the lack of availability of a product, because a lot of these companies are running just-in-time supply chains."

"So it's kind of a perfect storm. We'll find out in a month or so where the prices settle. What this will really mean for businesses over the coming year," said Petersen.

At least 10 vessels have been damaged in Houthi attacks since October and 25 crewmen from a pirated ship remain in captivity in Yemen. The conflict has also claimed the lives of two American Navy SEALs as well as 15 Houthi militants.

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