Hapag-Lloyd, German Shipping Company, has introduced an overland route through the UAE and Saudi Arabia to avoid facing the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden and Bab el-Mandeb, Der Spiegel, German news magazine, reports.
The land bridge will connect the Port of Jebel Ali in the UAE, the Ports of Dammam and Jubail in Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf with the Port of Jeddah in the Red Sea. Hapag-Lloyd called it a “convenient contingency solution” until the situation in the Red Sea is normalized.
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In response to the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea, the Italian Federation of Road Transport (FAI) is calling on the EU to put pressure on Austria to lift restrictions on lorries using the Brenner Pass.
Paolo Uggè, the national president of Fai-Conftrasporto, calls for fast land bridges in Italian ports to expedite the transfer of goods from ships to trucks or trains, offering a strategic alternative to the traditional maritime routes. It will allow to significantly reduce transit times of goods to European countries down to 3–4 days, as opposed to the 7–8 days required to circumnavigate Gibraltar.
However, the lorry restrictions imposed by Austria on the Brenner Pass are hampering the creations of these bridges.
Source: trans.info