Dry bulk ship owners are insisting vessels sail via the Cape of Good Hope on voyages from South Africa to Mediterranean ports to avoid pirates in the Gulf of Aden, it has been revealed.

The new route adds ten days to shipping times.

Utilities in Israel, Italy and Greece, which use coal shipped from Indonesia and South Africa, will bear higher transportation costs for the new route, reports Reuters.

Mediterranean utilities are unlikely to face generation problems from the increased voyage times as they have coal stockpiles left from 2009, industry experts told the news agency.