Lord Simon Wolfson (left), the chain’s chief executive, said it could take another two to two and a half weeks for its stock to reach the UK if ships are forced to continue bypassing the Suez Canal. Attacks by Houthi rebels have seen the world’s largest shipping firms divert around the Cape of Good Hope – a route that is much longer and more expensive. Also pictured is a Houthi rebel boarding a ship (top right) and a British missile strike (bottom right)
Published January 4, 2024
The boss of Next has said attacks on container ships in the Red Sea will delay stock headed for the UK and could impact sales if they continue.
Lord Simon Wolfson, the chain’s chief executive, said it could take another two to two and a half weeks for its stock to reach the UK if ships are forced to continue bypassing the Suez Canal.
Attacks by Houthi rebels have seen the world’s largest shipping firms divert around the Cape of Good Hope – a route that is much longer and more expensive.
Next cautioned in its latest trading update that ‘some delays to stock deliveries’ would be likely in the early part of this year if disruption to the all-important Suez Canal shipping route goes on for much longer.
Lord Wolfson said: ‘It could add another two to two and a half weeks to lead times in terms of getting stock to the UK. Because the ships have to travel further, there will be some level of surcharges. It will impact on sales if this persists for a long time, but not dramatic levels.’
Lord Wolfson added that the delays would impact all clothes and goods from the Far East, but stressed these would be ‘manageable’.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
RELATED: ‘The situation’s gotten worse’: Esper warns US Houthi response ‘very insufficient’
This photo released by the Houthi Media Center shows a Houthi forces helicopter approaching the cargo ship Galaxy Leader on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. Yemen’s Houthis have seized the ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen after threatening to seize all vessels owned by Israeli companies. (Houthi Media Center via AP)
Published January 4, 2024
The United States’s response to the ongoing series of Houthi attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea has been “very insufficient,” according to former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.
U.S. Central Command announced late Tuesday night that the Houthis had targeted their 24th commercial vessel transiting the waterways around Yemen since mid-November, when their attacks began. Houthi leaders have claimed they’re targeting these vessels in response to Israel’s war in Gaza against Hamas.
The U.S. military has largely not responded to the Houthi attacks, which Esper believes is a mistake.
“I think it’s been very insufficient,” he told the Washington Examiner. “We’ve yet to respond beyond the self-defense actions taken by the Navy last few days, but my view has been that we need to go after the Houthis, attack the missile sites or the drone sites where they’re being launched or where they’re being stored, and inflict some punishment on them so that we can restore deterrence. Otherwise, the Houthis are going to continue to do what they’re doing because they face no punishment.”
The former secretary said “the situation’s gotten worse” over time and questioned the Biden administration’s strategy.
“The Biden administration has this mistaken fear that if somehow we respond and take out the Houthi launch sites or missile inventories, somehow it will escalate in the region, and my view is just the opposite,” he said. “My view is if you don’t strike back and get rid of their capability to attack, then they’re going to continue to escalate, and at some point, they’re going to sink a ship or they’re going to kill an American, injure an American, who knows. But I think you risk more escalation.”
The Houthis’ attacks have led major shipping companies to consider whether to reroute some of their cargo to avoid the Red Sea and, ultimately, the Suez Canal. A joint statement released on Wednesday from the governments of about a dozen countries, including the U.S., said, “Nearly 15 percent of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, including 8 percent of global grain trade, 12 percent of seaborne-traded oil and 8 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas trade.”
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SOURCE: www.washingtonexaminer.com
RELATED: US calls for urgent UN action on attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on ships in the Red Sea
In this image provided by the U.S. Navy, the amphibious dock landing ship USS Carter Hall and amphibious assault ship USS Bataan transit the Bab al-Mandeb strait on Aug. 9, 2023. The top commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East says Yemen’s Houthi rebels are showing no signs of ending their “reckless” attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. But Vice Adm. Brad Cooper said in an Associated Press interview on Saturday that more nations are joining the international maritime mission to protect vessels in the vital waterway and trade traffic is beginning to pick up. (Mass Communications Spc. 2nd Class Moises Sandoval/U.S. Navy via AP)
Published January 3, 2024
The United States is calling on the U.N. Security Council to take urgent action against Yemen’s Houthi rebels for attacking ships in the key Red Sea trade route, and is warning their longtime financier and weapons supplier Iran that it has a choice
US calls for urgent UN action on attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on ships in the Red SeaBy EDITH M. LEDERERAssociated PressThe Associated PressUNITED NATIONS
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United States called on the U.N. Security Council Wednesday to take urgent action against Yemen’s Houthi rebels for attacking ships in the key Red Sea trade route and warned their longtime financier Iran that it has a choice to make about continuing to provide support to the rebels.
U.S. deputy ambassador Christopher Lu told an emergency council meeting that the Houthis have carried out more than 20 attacks since Nov. 19 — and despite losing 10 fighters in a confrontation with U.S. forces after trying unsuccessfully to board a cargo ship on Sunday, the rebel group announced Wednesday morning they had targeted another container ship.
The Houthis, who have been engaged in a civil war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government since 2014, have said they launched the attacks on ships in the Red Sea with the aim of ending Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel.
International Maritime Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez told the council that as a result of the Houthi attacks, around 18 shipping companies have rerouted their vessels around South Africa to avoid the risk of being hit.
Some 15% of international trade goes through the vital Red Sea area, he said, and rerouting ships around the Cape of Good Hope represents an additional 10-day journey, negatively impacts global trade, and increases freight rates.
U.S. envoy Lu stressed to the council that the Houthis have been able to carry out the attacks because Iran has supplied them with money and advanced weapons systems including drones, land attack cruise missiles and ballistic missiles – in violation of U.N. sanctions.
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SOURCE: www.breitbart.com
