The International Monetary Fund announced on Wednesday that attacks in the Red Sea caused a 30% decline in shipping traffic this year, against the backdrop of continued attacks by Yemeni rebels on commercial ships.

Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the IMF, Jihad Azour, said during an online press conference that container shipping in the Red Sea decreased “by approximately 30%,” adding that “the decline in trade accelerated at the beginning of this year.”

According to the Fund’s “Port Watch” platform, which monitors commercial traffic disruptions, ship transit traffic in the Suez Canal, which connects the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, decreased by 37% this year until January 16 compared to the same period last year. .

Since October 19, the Iranian-backed Houthis have carried out more than thirty attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea that they suspect are linked to Israel or heading to its ports, and they say that this comes in support of the Gaza Strip, which is witnessing a war between Hamas and Israel. Since October 7th.

The Houthi attacks impede navigation in the strategic region through which 12% of global trade passes, and caused a doubling of the cost of transportation, as a result of shipping companies diverting their ships to the Cape of Good Hope, in the far south of Africa, which prolongs the journey between Asia and Europe for about a week. .

Azour stressed that “the level of uncertainty is very high and developments will determine the extent of change and transformation in trade patterns in terms of volume but also in terms of sustainability.”

He asked, “Are we on the cusp of a major change in trade routes, or is it temporary due to rising costs and deteriorating security costs?”

To protect international shipping, Washington has established an international maritime coalition and is applying diplomatic and financial pressure by re-listing the Houthis on its list of “terrorist entities.” Its warships accompany commercial ships as they pass off the coast of Yemen and often say they have intercepted missiles and drones launched by the Houthis.

In an attempt to deter them, American and British forces launched a series of strikes on their military sites in Yemen on January 12 and 22. The US Army alone carries out strikes from time to time on missiles that it says are prepared for launch.

Following Western strikes, the Houthis began targeting American and British ships in the region, considering that the interests of both countries had become “legitimate targets.”