Global trade’s new normal?
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 19 February 2024
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Three months ago, Houthi fighters from Yemen hijacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea and took the crew captive. It was the group’s first attack on commercial shipping in response to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. Around 30 similar assaults have followed and the US and UK have retaliated with air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The Houthi attacks have wreaked havoc with shipping in the Red Sea, forcing hundreds of ships to re-route and make the much longer journey around the bottom of Africa. Supply chains have been interrupted and insurance costs have risen for vessels still passing through the area.
With no end to the tension in the region in sight, some companies are readjusting their timelines and accepting that the current situation might become the “new normal”. We ask whether the Houthi attacks have changed the way we move goods around the world for ever.
(Picture: Ships crossing the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea. Credit: EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Presented and produced by Gideon Long
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Global Story, with smart takes and fresh perspectives on one big news story, every Monday to Friday from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:11.5 | Search for The Global Story, wherever you get your BBC podcasts, to find out more. |
| 0:20.7 | Three months ago today, Houthi fighters from Yemen hijacked the galaxy leader, a cargo ship in the Red Sea. |
| 0:27.4 | Around 30 similar Houthi attacks have followed, wreaking havoc in the shipping industry and disrupting supply chains for companies around the world. |
| 0:35.5 | The demand for trying to get things out of India has increased |
| 0:39.0 | by about 80% via sea freight. So the costs are astronomical. There's no sign that the Houthi |
| 0:44.4 | attacks are about to stop and shipping companies and their customers are starting to re-evaluate |
| 0:49.4 | the situation and adjust their timelines. For the first time, we're saying shipping executives start to look at what things will look like in six months' time. |
| 0:59.0 | So we're beginning to see the beginning of trading patterns changing. |
| 1:04.3 | On today's Business Daily with me, Gideon Long, we look back on a fraught three months in the Red Sea. |
| 1:10.3 | But we also look forward and ask whether the Houthi attacks have changed the way we move goods around the globe. |
| 1:16.5 | Possibly forever. |
| 1:24.5 | November the 19th last year and Houthi fighters land a helicopter on the Galaxy leader, |
| 1:30.0 | a car carrier heading south through the Red Sea. |
| 1:35.2 | Masked and heavily armed, the gunmen enter the bridge and order the crew to lie down. |
| 1:40.5 | They take control of the ship and steer it to the Yemeni port of Hadeo. |
| 1:46.6 | This was the first Houthi attack on ships in the Red Sea |
| 1:49.8 | following the Hamas assault on Israel of October 7th, |
| 1:53.5 | and Israel's devastating military response in Gaza. |
| 1:57.0 | The Houthis said they acted in solidarity with the Palestinians |
| 2:00.1 | and would target any ships connected to Israel. |
| 2:03.7 | The US and its allies responded by setting up a task force |
... |
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