The Arctic option: Why a melting sea route matters for Colombo Harbour

For nearly three years now, the Red Sea has been effectively closed to routine commercial shipping. Since November 2023, Yemen’s Houthi movement has launched more than 190 attacks on merchant vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, and what was once a corridor carrying 10-12% of world trade now sees daily transits collapse from a historical average of around 70 vessels to just 30-35. The re ..