An Israeli company is among the first ever to establish commercial land routes through West Asian countries – including Gulf Arab states – in order to “bypass the Houthi-menaced Red Sea,” Bloomberg reported on 2 February.
Trucknet Enterprise Ltd, an Israeli software startup, is transporting food, plastics, chemicals, and electrical appliances from Emirati and Bahraini ports into Israel and Europe via Saudi Arabia and Jordan, according to firm’s Chief Executive Officer Hanan Fridman.
Hapag Lloyd AG – a German shipping company which, along with others, suspended Red Sea journeys in fear of Yemen – is involved in the initiative, and “is looking to link Dubai’s Jebel Ali and two eastern Saudi ports with Jeddah on the west coast,” Bloomberg said, adding that “another of its options connects Jebel Ali with Jordan.”
“The routes offer an immediate solution to shipments trying to avoid the Houthi hot zone around the Bab al-Mandeb strait in the southern Red Sea, where months of missile and drone attacks have forced many commercial vessels to divert to a longer route around Africa.”
Hapag Lloyd AG spokesman Nils Haupt said the land routes aim to serve as a temporary fix for limited amounts of cargo.
thecradle.co/articles/arab-states-help-israel-bypass-yemens-red-sea-blockade-report