BP halts all transits through Red Sea

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Oil major BP temporarily paused all transits through the Red Sea and oil tanker group Frontline said on Monday its vessels would avoid passage through the waterway, signs the crisis was broadening to include energy shipments. Crude oil prices rose on those concerns on Monday.

Attacks by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants on ships in the Red Sea are disrupting maritime trade and prompting US efforts to build a coalition to deal with the threat, as freight firms reroute around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal.

The Houthi group said it launched a drone attack on two cargo vessels in the area on Monday, the latest in a series of missile and drone strikes on shipping which it says are a response to Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking on a visit to Israel, said Washington was building a coalition to address the Houthi threat and said defence ministers from the region and beyond would hold virtual talks on the issue on Tuesday.