Houthi Ansar Allah Movement Claims Drone Attack On Container Ship In Red Sea, Repeats Threats To Stop Any Ship Sailing To Israel Through Red Sea And Arabian Sea
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
On December 14, 2023, the Houthi Ansar Allah movement's armed forces claimed a drone attack on the Maersk Gibraltar container ship bound which, they said, was bound for the "Zionist entity." The spokesperson of the Houthi armed forces, Brigadier-General Yahya Saree', said that the strike had accurately hit the target and was carried out after the ship failed to heed the warnings of the Yemeni navy.
A December 15 report by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on this incident states that, "on midday on December 14 (Sanaa time), a ballistic missile was fired from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen toward the international shipping lane north of Bab El-Mandeb. There were no injuries or damage. Following the missile launch, the M/V Maersk Gibraltar was hailed by the Houthis, who threatened further missile attacks. The M/V Maersk Gibraltar is a Hong Kong-flagged cargo container vessel."[1]
Below are further details about this incident and statements released regarding it:
As mentioned, the December 14 official statement by Houthi spokesperson Saree' claimed responsibility for the attack on the Maersk Gibraltar. It added that, in the last two days, Yemen's armed forces have also managed to prevent the passage of several other ships on their way to the "Israeli entity," and that they would continue to prevent the passage of such ships through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, "until our steadfast brothers in Gaza receive the food and medicine they need."[2]
- A December 15 report in the pro-Hizbullah Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar states, citing "knowledgeable sources," that on December 14 the Houthis prevented the passage of two ships through the Bab El-Mandeb strait.
- It adds that, according to other sources, a third ship was attacked in the Indian Ocean, near Yemen's Socotra Island.
- This escalation, it explains, comes against the backdrop of the U.S. efforts to form a "military coalition against Sanaa."
- CENTCOM reported on December 14 that, "at approximately 0830 (Sanaa time) on December 13, in the southern Red Sea, the Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) was responding to a mayday call from the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Motor Vessel Ardmore Encounter, which was under attack from Houthi forces. These forces first attempted to board the tanker via skiffs.
- "When this was unsuccessful, a pair of missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen at the vessel, which both missed.
- While responding to the distress call, the Mason shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle also launched from Houthi-controlled areas.
- The UAV was heading directly towards the Mason and was shot down in self-defense."[4]
- These Houthi attacks come in the wake of the December 12 rocket attack on the Norwegian commercial tanker STRINDA, which was also allegedly bound for Israel. [5]
They also follow statements by Houthi officials, who said that support of Gaza must be translated into action and that the only way to restore calm in Red Sea is to restore calm in Gaza. [6]
__________________________________________________________________
WHY IS THE RED SEA IMPORTANT?
The Red Sea has the Suez Canal at its northern end and the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern end leading into the Gulf of Aden. It's a busy waterway with ships traversing the Suez Canal to bring goods between Asia and Europe.
A huge amount of Europe’s energy supplies, like oil and diesel fuel, come through that waterway, said John Stawpert, senior manager of environment and trade for the International Chamber of Shipping, which represents 80% of the world’s commercial fleet.
So do food products like palm oil and grain and anything else brought over on container ships, which is most of the world’s manufactured products.
HOW ARE HOUTHI ATTACKS AFFECTING TRADE?
“We have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice,” the company said in statement Friday, referring to the narrow waterway that separates Yemen from East Africa and leads north to the Red Sea.
The company says it's monitoring the security situation and is working to minimize the effect on customers.
Shipper Hapag-Lloyd, whose vessel was attacked Friday, said it was pausing its ships through the Red Sea until Monday and “will decide for the period thereafter.”
Some Israeli-linked vessels have apparently started taking the longer route around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, said Noam Raydan, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. That lengthens the trip from around 19 days to 31 days depending on vessel speed, increasing costs and adding delays, she said.
The global oil market has shrugged off the most recent attacks. Prices have fallen, and the market is more worried about weak demand in major economies.
The single biggest immediate impact of the Houthi escalation has been increased insurance costs.
Recent attacks show the increased threat to vessels in the Red Sea and represent a “significant impediment” to commercial shipping in the region, said Munro Anderson, head of operations for Vessel Protect, which assesses war risks at sea and provides insurance with backing from Lloyd’s, whose members make up the world’s largest insurance marketplace.
There is “a further degree of instability facing commercial operators within the Red Sea which is likely to continue to see heightened rates across the short to medium term,” he said.
Insurance costs have doubled for shippers moving through the Red Sea, which can add hundreds of thousands of dollars to a journey for the most expensive ships, said David Osler, insurance editor for Lloyd’s List Intelligence, which provides analysis for the global maritime industry.
For Israeli ship owners, they have gone up even more — by 250% — and some insurers won’t cover them at all, he said.
While shippers are applying a so-called war risk charge of $50 to $100 per container to customers bringing over everything from grain to oil to things you buy off Amazon, that’s a low enough fee that it should not drive up prices for consumers, he said.
Osler expects insurance costs to keep rising but said the situation would have to get a lot worse — such as the loss of several ships — to raise prices considerably and make some ship owners rethink moving through the region.
“At the moment, it’s just an inconvenience that the system can handle,” he said. “Nobody likes to be paying hundreds of thousands of dollars more, but you can live with it if you have to.”
Unlikely, experts say. The Houthis have no formal naval warships with which to impose a cordon, relying on harassing fire and only one helicopter-borne assault so far.
- Still, the attacks are making the shipping industry nervous, and “it’s not being taken lightly,” said Stawpert of the shipping chamber.
- But “you’ll still see there’s an awful lot of trade going through the Red Sea because it’s such a crucial supply line for Europe and Asia.”
“I just don’t see there being a possibility of the Houthis shutting transport through the Red Sea,” he said. It is “simply not how the shipping industry works. It’s not how we respond to threats like this. We will do everything we can to mitigate any such threats and keep trade flowing.”
- That’s been on display in other conflicts like the war in Ukraine, with the closure of some parts of the Black Sea, Stawpert said.
- He doesn't see a threat to shipping in general or closure of Red Sea routes, but “if that were to arise as a potentiality, I think we would see a much more robust reaction from navies in the area.”
McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.
No comments:
Post a Comment