From New Lines Magazine
From the oil terminals of Yanbu to the luxury resorts rising along the Red Sea, a firsthand look at how the kingdom’s postoil ambitions have become a new strategic vulnerability
In 35 years at the helm of the Saudi Maritime Company, the kingdom’s oldest shipping firm, Syed Ahmed thought he had weathered every storm the Middle East could throw at him: the Gulf wars, Somali piracy, a container ship blocking the Suez Canal in 2021 and, more recently, the Houthi campaign against Israel-linked shipping. The latest regional war, sparked by U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran in February, even proved initially good for business.
“Once the Strait of Hormuz was closed, Gulf countries rerouted their food imports through the Red Sea,” Ahmed told me from his glass-walled office overlooking the port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s commercial capital. “The containers are unloaded here and trucked across the peninsula. Our ports are overflowing. Freight rates have tripled. People in our industry are making money hand over fist.” He paused, glancing toward a giant digital map tracking some 30 company vessels. Nearly two-thirds sat at anchor, waiting for a berth. Some had been stranded there since mid-June.
The boom came to an abrupt end on July 20.
Théophile Simon is a freelance journalist exploring how global business influences geopolitics.
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