Several Dutch shipping companies are changing their routes to avoid the Gulf of Aden where attacks by Somali pirates have become increasingly rampant, Dutch media reported Friday.
Director of the Royal Association of Netherlands Shipowners, Guido Hollaar, said some shipping companies are opting for a detour around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope as a precautionary measure, Dutch daily Het Financiele Dagblad reported.
A total of 15 vessels carrying nearly 300 crew members have recently been hijacked for ransom in the Somali region, with pirates often holding the vessels and crew captive for two to three months.
The rerouting will result in additional costs. Depending on the type of vessel and the cargo it carries, the detour around the Cape of Good Hope will add between one and three weeks to the total journey time.
Dutch shipping line Splietoff is one of the firms which has switched routes. "I can no longer expose my crews to the danger," an official of the shipping line was quoted by Dutch paper De Volkskrant as saying.
A Jumbo Shipping official told the daily that the alternative route is costing his company an extra 800,000 euros (1 million U.S. dollars) on top of the original price of several million euros.
Around 10 Dutch ships sail along the Somali coast per week on their way to the Middle East.
The shipping companies have called for military escorts for trips through the danger zone. They are to meet with Dutch government officials next week to discuss the situation.
The route through the Suez Canal links the continents of Asia and Europe and is one of the world's three main trade routes for cargo ships. Some 20,000 vessels pass through the Gulf of Aden each year when sailing to or from the Suez Canal.
Source:Xinhua
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