Attacks on shipping in the Red Sea by Yemen-based Houthi insurgents are causing major disruption to world trade, and forcing cruise lines to re-work itineraries to avoid the area.
Editor’s note: This story has been amended to include new updates at the bottom of the page.
Houthi rebels have been using missiles and drones to attack merchant vessels in the Red Sea, particularly the Bab Al Mandeb Strait, which translates as Gateway of Tears in Arabic.
The strait is a key waterway linking the Red Sea and Suez Canal to the Indian Ocean, and therefore any vessel passing between Asia or the Middle East and Europe must transit the Strait.
At just 17 nautical miles at its widest point, the strait makes it easy for Houthi militia to fire on any ships trying to access the Red Sea and Suez Canal.
The insurgents argue that they are firing only on those vessels bound to or from Israel, in response to the invasion of the Gaza Strip by the Israeli Defence Forces, which was itself launched in retaliation for the October 7th attacks on Israel by Hamas.
In an effort to deter further attacks on shipping, the United States and United Kingdom this week launched airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen, while the US has deployed naval vessel in the region to secure the Strait, but the military action has yet to have the desired effect.
MSC Cruises and Silversea are the first cruise ships to be affected by the geopolitical tensions, with MSC amending the World Cruise itinerary for MSC Poesia to avoid the Red Sea altogether, and cancelling all repositioning cruises from South Africa and the Middle East.
The luxury cruise line Silversea also cancelled a planned January 16th departure from Muscat for Dubai, as well as the onward voyage from Dubai to Mumbai. Instead, the ship’s 10-day cruise from Aqaba was amended to be a roundtrip, keeping the vessel well north of Yemen.
Silversea is a fully-owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group, and a spokesperson for the company said its global security team continues to monitor the situation, and will further amend itineraries as necessary.
MSC Cruises and Silversea were the first movers in responding to the Red Sea crisis largely as a result of itinerary timings. The vast majority of the world’s cruise ships are currently sailing homeporting seasons around the world, with April onwards marking the start of repositioning cruises and Grand Voyages.
Major cruise companies such as Carnival Corporation and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings are therefore taking a wait-and-see approach, and have offered little to no response about any upcoming contingency plans they may have if the crisis continues into spring.
Carnival Corporation owns Costa Cruises, which homeports annually in Dubai for the winter cruise season. The cruise lines has Costa Toscana based in the Arabian Gulf for the current season, with the ship due to transit the Suez Canal bound for Europe in March.
On a Q4 earnings call, Carnival Corporation CEO Josh Weinstein avoided giving a direct answer regarding the plan for Costa Toscana.
“Obviously, our first priority is going to be safety,” he said. “That’s already on our radar screen, and we’ve got mitigation plans, should we need it. But keep in mind, this is months away,” he said. “We’ll do the right thing.”
Carnival Corporation also owns AIDA Cruises, which is homeporting AIDAprima in Dubai for the current cruise season alongside Costa Toscana.
Royal Caribbean-aligned TUI Cruises is also homeporting Mein Schiff 2 in Dubai, while MSC Cruises has two ships, MSC Opera and MSC Virtuosa, sailing roundtrip Arabian Gulf cruises from the city.
MSC previously announced that it was cancelling its repositioning cruises from Dubai to Europe, with both ships instead now due to sail in April to Europe without passengers via South Africa, rather than through the Red Sea.
These cancellations come on top of the previously announced cancellation of MSC Cruises’ annual homeporting cruise season in Saudi Arabia.
Jody Venturoni, Carnival’s chief communications officer, separately said it’s impossible to say when any decision about the Red Sea and Suez might be made, but insisted the cruise company has ongoing contact with local and global authorities and will make a safety-led decision.
Venturoni said Carnival “will use the most up-to-date guidance to determine if future itinerary adjustments are necessary,” and directly communicate any changes to guests and their travel advisors.
Holland America Line, another Carnival Corporation brand, is also watching the situation closely. It’s ship Zuiderdam is scheduled to sail in the Red Sea in mid-April, as part of its 2024 Grand World Voyage. The cruise line has not made any changes to the itinerary yet.
“Our global security team is closely watching the situation in the region,” a spokesperson for the cruise line told Seatrade. “We will continue working in consultation with global experts and authorities to make decisions that prioritise safety, including adjusting our itineraries if necessary.”
Another Carnival Corporation brand, Cunard, is scheduled to operate in the Red Sea during the same period, and similarly has not altered itineraries.
A spokesperson said the line was “monitoring the situation on a daily basis”.
“Should we decide to change the itinerary based upon our own assessment of the situation or on the basis of advice given by authorities such as the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, for example, we will inform guests of the revised itinerary and any other impact on the cruise, as appropriate,” said the spokesperson.
Azamara is similarly “closely monitoring the situation” and said it will provide guests with any itinerary updates if necessary.
The Red Sea geopolitical tensions are the latest military crisis to disrupt the cruise industry post-COVID, following on from the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which threw Black Sea cruise itineraries into disarray, and the Israel-Gaza war, which prompted the cancellation of all cruises to and from the country, as well as some itineraries in the wider Middle East.
March, 2024 Update
Several dozen cruise lines have confirmed the cancellation of cruises through the Red Sea since this story was first published.
Following the lead set by MSC Cruises in January, Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises (also both home-porting in Dubai for the 2023/24 season), confirmed that they to would be cancelling their repositioning voyages and sailing Costa Toscana and AIDAprima around Africa without passengers.
Carnival Corporation had 12 cruise ships due to call in Dubai and other Middle Eastern ports during the year, and has cancelled all of them, with ships being rerouted around South Africa and West Africa instead of through the Suez Canal.
Cruise lines within the Carnival Corporation fleet that have seen ships rerouted away from the Red Sea include Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, P&O Cruises, Seabourn, Princess Cruises and Cunard Line.
Virgin Voyages, which cruised from Dubai to Singapore aboard Resilient Lady in November as part of her repositioning to Australia, was meant to cruise from Dubai in April on her return to Europe, but that cruise has been cancelled, along with the entirety of Virgin Voyages’ planned 2024/25 Australian cruise season.
Norwegian Cruise Line has cancelled several cruises aboard Norwegian Sky in late 2024 due to the ongoing security concerns in the Red Sea. Norwegian Sky was due to sail a repositioning cruise from the Western Mediterranean to Mauritius on November 4th, November 20th, and December 4th, 2024, with the ship offering various ports of embarkation.
Crystal Cruises has cancelled its Chairman’s Cruise aboard Crystal Symphony from Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Rhodes, Greece on April 2nd, 2024, along with the March 27th departure from Mumbai, India.
Silversea has cancelled a range of Red Sea itineraries aboard Silver Whisper for 2024, adding to cancelled itineraries aboard Silver Moon, which was due to sail three cruises to and from Middle Eastern ports, including Dubai and Muscat.
Categories: Middle East Cruise News, Cruise Industry, News
