Procurement Spectrum
Red Sea to Hormuz:
The Crisis Timeline
How a regional security threat became a two-year global supply chain reset | April 2026
2 0 2 3
Houthi Attacks Begin
Houthi forces hijack the
Galaxy Leader
on 19 Nov 2023, followed by dozens more attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
NOV
23
DEC
23
Maersk Pauses Red Sea
Maersk suspends Red Sea transits on 15 Dec, briefly resumes, then
fully diverts around the Cape of Good Hope
on 2 Jan 2024.
2 0 2 4
Industry Fallout Begins
Tesla shuts Berlin Gigafactory for two weeks (
5,000–7,000 cars not built
). Container traffic through the Red Sea drops
~90%
.
JAN
24
JUL
24
Freight Rates Peak
Shanghai Containerized Freight Index hits
3,650 points — 274% above
January 2023 levels. Asia–Europe spot rates rise approximately five-fold.
Schedule Reliability Collapses
Global schedule reliability falls to
50–55%
. Suez transits drop 50% (26,000 → 13,213 ships). Egypt loses
$7 bn+
in canal revenue.
2024
FY
2 0 2 5
OCT
25
Ceasefires Begin
Broader Gaza ceasefire eases Houthi attacks. Schedule reliability recovers to
64.1%
by November.
First Maersk Return
Maersk's
Maersk Sebarok
makes first Red Sea/Suez transit since December 2023. Described as
"stepwise"
— not a full network return.
DEC
25
2 0 2 6
FEB
26
Hormuz Crisis Erupts
Iran blocks Strait of Hormuz after US/Israeli strikes. Ship transits collapse
95% (130/day → 6)
. Dual chokepoint crisis begins.