Red Sea diversions add nearly a million dollars per voyage to shipping costs while doubling transit time

The incremental costs of diverting a tanker from Asia to NW Europe via the Cape of Good Hope is accounting for an extra $932,905 USD per voyage while increasing transit time from 16 days to 32 days. This is according to a report by Momoo Shipping Research. These additional costs mostly accounts for extra fuel and increases costs for an Aframax tanker by 110%, while for a large container vessel it increases by 35% for a voyage between Asia to NW Europe. Transits through Suez have been hugely affected following the Red Sea attacks. Average monthly transits through the Suez from June to November 2023 was seen at 1914. This dropped to 1672 in December, a 12.6% drop in transits and January month-to-date transits are assessed at 947 as of 22nd Jan, which translates to a 32.6% decline.Daily container vessel traffic within the Red Sea have dropped by almost 60% since mid-December, with the larger container ships being the most responsive to avoid the region as their transits have declined by over 80%. For those that elect to transit via the Red Sea, ships are also using AIS to broadcast deterrence messages in addition to standard security protocols.