Seth Deitchman

An estimated 12% of global trade worth more than $1 trillion traverses the Red Sea each year. When Houthi rebels started attacking commercial vessels in November 2023, ocean carriers began rerouting container ships around Africa’s Cape of Good Horn rather than through the Suez Canal on voyages from Asia to Europe. That greatly increased travel time and costs. As of March of this year, shipping through the Red Sea was still down 70% from before the attacks began, according to The Economist, with many ocean carriers still avoiding the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which separates the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Peninsula. Maritime Industry Caught in the Crosshairs Houthi rebels launched attacks on ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza. The Houthis attacked more than 100 cargo ships between November 2023 and January 2025. The attacks, with missiles and drones, sunk two vessels and killed four sailors. In late October 2024, a headline in gCaptain read, “Red Sea Is Now So Dangerous Even NATO Warships Are Avoiding It.” “The United States Navy continues to send warships through the Red Sea, but its mission to protect merchant ships – Operation Prosperity…

Keep up with all the latest conversations, interviews, and episodes right here on Supply Chain Now as we look back on everything that’s happened this week! On Monday, we released 3 new episodes! On Digital Transformers on Supply Chain Now, hosts Kevin L. Jackson and Scott Luton welcome Dr. Evaristus Mainsah, with IBM, to the show to discuss IBM think #2021, post-pandemic digital transformation, using AI to make your workforce even more effective, and exactly what drives innovation. On This Week in Business History, guest host Kelly Barner, Owner of Buyers Meeting Point and Host of Dial P for Procurement remembers key innovations, inventions, and firsts that took place between June 7th and 13th, including the questionable career of Samuel Slater, the tricky first passing of the Panama Canal, and how the Post Office stopped the shipment of children through their national parcel service. On Supply Chain Now en Spanish, host Enrique Alvarez interviews Sofia Rivas Herrera learning about her journey from curious child to industrial engineer to supply chain leader and much more. On Tuesday, we released 2 new episodes! On our Logistics with Purpose series, produced in partnership with Vector Global Logistics, as Pat Plonski, Executive Director of…