Escalating tensions in the Red Sea amid ongoing Houthi attacks have already hobbled global trade and prompted a US military response.
Several major cruise lines in recent days have announced reroutings and entire cancellations as Houthi rebels continue to launch missile and drone attacks on merchant vessels in the busy waterway.
Carnival Cruise Lines is the most recent player to confirm schedule changes because of the risks. A spokesperson for the cruise line told Business Insider that the company has rerouted itineraries for 12 ships across seven brands for voyages scheduled to sail through the Red Sea through May.
The company said it has no other Red Sea transits scheduled until November.
Princess Cruise Lines, which is owned by Carnival, has rerouted two world cruise itineraries, including one that left Los Angeles on January 18, a spokesperson for the company told BI.
The in-progress voyage will no longer visit the Middle East or Asia, instead stopping in Australia, South Africa, and along the West Coast of Africa, according to the company.
A Princess cruise scheduled to depart in April from Sydney has also been reworked to bypass the Middle East entirely.
“A Princess World Cruise is truly the voyage of a lifetime, and we are disappointed that global events beyond our control have necessitated these changes,” a Princess spokesperson said.
Costa Cruises, another Carnival subsidiary, cancelled a 19-night cruise set to sail from the United Arab Emirates to Italy in March, CNN reported this week.
The Houthi attacks have also impacted Royal Caribbean, though a spokesperson for the company did not share details about which voyages were affected.
The Mediterranean Shipping Company — one of the largest shipping groups in the world — announced last month that it would suspend operations in the Red Sea until further notice because of the attacks.
Now, the company’s cruising arm has been impacted, too. MSC Cruises cancelled three sailings in April to avoid traversing the Red Sea, a spokesperson for the company told Business Insider.
The affected voyages include a 24-night voyage, a 23-night voyage, and a 21-night voyage.
A spokesperson for MSC said the company tried to find alternative itineraries, but none were available.
Instead of ferrying passengers around the Middle East and Europe, the MSC ships will transfer directly to Europe with no passengers on board, avoiding the Red Sea entirely by sailing around the west coast of Africa and making no port visits, the company said.
