Red Sea crisis: Biz heads fear lasting bottlenecks

Attacks by the Houthi militia on ships since Nov have slowed trade between Asia and Europe

• The alternative shipping route around South Africa's Cape of Good Hope can add 10-14 days to a journey

Business chiefs warned on Wednesday that disruption to shipping in the Red Sea caused by attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants could affect supply chains for months and lead to a shortage of tankers needed to transport fuel.

Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed major powers - an escalation of Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza.

The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and have threatened to expand attacks to include US ships in response to American and British strikes on their sites in Yemen.

Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, whose country backs Hamas in its war with Israel, said an end to the war in Gaza was needed to remove the threat to shipping.

"The security of the Red Sea is tied to the developments in Gaza, and everyone will suffer if Israel's crimes in Gaza do not stop... All the (resistance) fronts will remain active," Amirabdollahian said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.