Canadian companies and consumers may soon feel the impact of attacks on ships sailing in the Red Sea.

International shipping companies have decided to avoid the important trade route after the Houthi militants in Yemen intensified their attacks on commercial ships to denounce the Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

The giant shipping company Maersk announced on Friday that it will avoid the Suez Canal and the Red Sea by passing through the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

This rerouting also adds 10 days of travel and hundreds of thousands of dollars in fuel and labor expenses, which could lead to higher wholesale and retail product prices.

For his part, Jan Simon, a trade professor at Laval University, said Europe would feel the most direct effects. He explained that some manufacturing parts and consumer goods destined for Canada also pass through the Suez Canal, which handles nearly one-third of global container traffic.

Data from Drewry, a shipping industry research company, showed that global container shipping prices jumped 61% last week. We are also seeing increased sea traffic between Asia and North America.

Escalation of the conflict

Tensions in the Middle East have also extended to the Arabian Sea. The Indian Navy announced today, Friday, that it rescued 21 crew members of a ship there after a distress call about hijacking and assault by five or six armed strangers.

This intervention comes after India announced in December last year the deployment of forces in the Arabian Sea to protect commercial ships, which have been increasingly attacked since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Since the beginning of this conflict, the Houthis have intensified their attacks in the Red Sea against ships they consider linked to Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians being bombed and besieged by Israel.

The United States announced on December 18 the formation of a coalition to defend maritime navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, joined by about twenty countries, including France, the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy, Greece, Norway, the Netherlands, and Italy.