DOHA: Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries may be delayed by attacks in the Red Sea, QatarEnergy warned on Wednesday, stressing that production had not been impacted. The state-owned giant confirmed in a statement that “Qatar’s LNG production continues uninterrupted, and our commitment to ensuring the reliable supply of LNG to our customers remains unwavering”.

“While the ongoing developments in the Red Sea area may impact the scheduling of some deliveries as they take alternative routes, LNG shipments from Qatar are being managed with our valued buyers,” it added. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels began strikes in the Red Sea in November, saying they were targeting the Zionist-linked vessels in support of Palestinians in Gaza, which has been ravaged by the Zionist war on Gaza. To avoid the conflict, rather than use the key route between Asia and European markets, which normally carries about 12 percent of global maritime trade, some shipping companies are now taking a major detour around southern Africa.

Earlier this month, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said LNG shipments would be affected, like other merchant shipping, by the Houthi strikes and called the crisis in the Red Sea “the most dangerous escalation” in the region because of its impact on global trade.

His intervention came amid reports of at least five LNG vessels operated by Qatar stopping en route to the Red Sea. US and British forces carried out a first wave of strikes against the Iran-backed rebel group earlier this month and followed that with further joint strikes on Tuesday. The Houthis have since declared US and British interests to be legitimate targets as well.

Maritime traffic through the Red Sea shipping route has fallen by 22 percent in a month due to attacks on international vessels by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the EU’s trade commissioner said Tuesday. “That decrease should be bigger now that shipping companies are rerouting their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope,” Valdis Dombrovskis told journalists.

The Red Sea is vital for international, and particularly European, trade, with Dombrovskis saying that up to 15 percent of global maritime traffic usually passes through the route. “The broader economic impact, impact on consumer prices and the EU economy in general, will depend very much on the length of this crisis,” Dombrovskis said. — AFP