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The United States has made an offer to Houthis in Yemen:
"The U.S. will REFRAIN from intervening in ongoing peacemaking efforts in Yemen IF the Houthis agree to halt attacks upon commercial shipping in the Red Sea."
The Houthis have REJECTED the U.S. offer.
As of Monday afternoon:
67 container ships have been diverted around the Cape of Good Hope on Africa.
75 container ships are delayed and awaiting orders.
Global Commerce is already suffering a very large disruption. Supply Chain problems will begin very quickly.
Behind almost every purchase you make, from Christmas lights to a new car, there is a ship.
Almost everything we buy, use, wear, and much of what we eat, spends at least some of its life in a container at sea.
These giant craft are the lifeblood of the global economy, circumnavigating the globe to meet consumer demand, transporting raw materials from the US and Europe to Asia, and finished goods in the other direction, often starting in the mega ports of Shanghai and Singapore.
It's also how oil and gas gets from where it's sourced to where it's needed, be it crude from the Gulf or liquid natural gas from Australia.
And around 10% of all that trade passes through the Red Sea, the route to and from the Suez Canal, the crucial artery that knocks up to a fortnight off the journey from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean.
That is why the decisions by major shipping companies to cease sailing through the Red Sea, and BP's decision to send its oil tankers the long way round too, matters.
The cessation comes after weeks of attacks launched from Yemen, on the eastern shore at the Red Sea's narrowest point, the Bab al Mandab Strait.
Just 20 miles wide, it is a pinch point from which militants have targeted - what they claim - is freight bound to and from Israel.
Keep in mind that price increases will be related to the amount the shipping cost adds to the overall cost of the product.
If you're buying 50 tons of fasteners (nuts/bolts/nails/screws) from a China supplier your cost is going to go through the roof.
50,000 cell phones? Shipping is a drop in the bucket and the impact will be immaterial.
Fertilizer? Yup, costs are going to go way up.
Flat screen televisions? Not nearly as much.
Golf club heads? Middle of the road.
Microwave ovens? Middle of the road.
Canned vegetables? Watch out, here comes a doubling of cost.
They have been able to do this despite the presence of American, British, French and other naval vessels in the Red Sea, in part to secure commercial shipping.
