(Newser Summary) – Attacks by Somali pirates have major shippers considering changing routes that run through the Suez Canal, Reuters reports, a move would add weeks to the time it takes ships to get to Europe from Asia and the Middle East. “It will really hit home when consumers in the West find they haven't got their Nintendo gifts this Christmas,” a trade-group rep said.
Recent attacks have been “200 miles-plus off the coast,” in the Gulf of Aden, he said, putting access to the Canal in jeopardy. The longer route, around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, also would add to shipping costs. The oil industry is taking note—some owners “are making a decision not to put their tankers in that direction,” a spokesman said. Source: Reuters
If there isn't a let-up and active intervention by navies in the region, the impact on trade will come within weeks or month. - Sam Dawson, International Transport Workers' Federation, on the growing reach of Somali pirates
