HMM diverts cargo from the Middle East and locks in new reserves.

The South Korean shipowner HMM decided to change the operation of cargo linked to the Middle East, in direct response to the worsening of maritime instability in the region. The South Korean carrier considers that the current security situation no longer guarantees normal conditions for maintaining stopovers and services in several sensitive areas, namely in the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.

Given this context, the company chose to divert goods already in transit to alternative ports, whenever this proves necessary from an operational and safety point of view. This change will imply the application of a diversion recovery surcharge in the amount of one thousand dollars per container, intended to cover additional costs associated with the new routing of cargo, including port operations and storage. In the case of goods already reserved but not yet shipped, HMM advises that these shipments will no longer be able to proceed to the affected destinations. When the containers have already entered the terminal, the cargo can be collected by customers, with the costs and risks of this operation on their side, or subject to the contractual conditions in force. At the same time, the shipowner suspended, with immediate effect and for an indefinite period, the acceptance of new reservations originating or destination in ports located in the Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Horn of Africa.

HMM’s decision confirms the growing impact of the crisis in the Middle East on international shipping. As the risks to commercial shipping multiply, so do costs, uncertainty in logistics chains and pressure on shipowners, shippers and terminals.

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