Maersk: Shipping capacity down as much as 20% due to Red Sea attacks

Due to the difficult security situation in the Red Sea, Danish shipping giant Maersk is expecting an industry-wide loss in freight capacity on routes from eastern Asia to Europe of 15% to 20% in the second quarter.

Maersk released the estimates on Monday, citing attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi militants on merchant shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthi militants have said the attacks are intended to support the Palestinian militant group Hamas by making it more difficult for cargo ships to reach Israel.