Houthis defiant despite repeated strikes on Yemeni bases
The Middle East remains a dangerous, red-hot cauldron for merchant shipping with many actors from various shorelines impinging on the safe and free navigation between Asia and Europe.
The Houthis in Yemen have continued to attack, despite repeated strikes from US and UK forces against them, while Iranian special forces have completed their latest hijacking, and elsewhere more dhows have been abducted by reemerging pirates in Somalia.
US fighter aircraft shot down an anti-ship cruise missile the Houthis fired toward the American destroyer USS Laboon yesterday while on Friday the Houthis mistakenly targeted a Russian ‘dark’ tanker, believing it had links to the UK. Other suspicious approaches were reported over the weekend too with the Houthis promising retaliation for recent strikes by US and UK forces.
Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam took to social media site X to call the strikes a “blatant violation of national sovereignty” while on Friday Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, argued: “One would have hoped that saving Palestinian children’s lives would be met with the same urgency to act and to provide protection granted to shipping lanes.”
More and more ships are shunning the Suez Canal, something most acutely felt in the container sector, but also spreading to other segments. Qatar, for instance, has now halted sending gas shipments via the Suez, since the US and UK attacks on Friday.
More naval assets are heading to the volatile region with Germany the latest nation to join the trade protection initiative. Berlin has announced it is sending the Hessen frigate to the Red Sea, joining a host of other nations.
Meanwhile, Empire Navigation’s suezmax tanker, St Nikolas, seized by Iran in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday, was located over the weekend by TankerTrackers.com east of Iran’s Qeshm Island. Empire Navigation has received confirmation that all crewmembers aboard the St Nikolas are safe and in good health. In April last year, Washington seized the tanker after it was caught transferring Iranian oil off Singapore.
Finally, in today’s roundup of the security situation in the region, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has warned that two Yemeni fishing vessels were hijacked on Friday night near Mareeyo in Somalia. The IMB has warned all vessels to keep well clear of the area.
Piracy was rampant off Somalia for four years from 2008 but then it went dormant for about five years. Recently, Somali pirates have been hijacking several vessels such as dhows and then targeting merchant ships passing by with a view to then demanding ransoms for kidnapped crews.