Houthi Rebel Attacks Rattle Global Shipping

Yemen’s Houthi forces have attacked several commercial ships crossing through the Bab el-Mandeb strait in recent days, creating a new front in the battle between Israel and Hamas and complicating efforts by the U.S. and its allies to secure the critical shipping lane.


Houthi rebels claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a strike on the Norwegian tanker Strinda a day earlier off Yemen’s coast, as the Iranian ally escalates attacks to disrupt the flow of cargoes in response to fighting in Gaza. The elevated risk of moving cargoes through the region has resulted in higher costs for shippers and also prompted some countries to rethink security measures to allow safe passage.

The Monday attack, the fifth on ships since the conflict began in October, came after the Houthis on Saturday said they would prevent the passage of all ships heading to Israel if more food and medicine aren’t allowed into Gaza. Israel has placed restrictions on shipments to the enclave as it undertakes a ground offensive against Islamist group Hamas. The Yemeni rebels had initially said they would target only Israeli-connected vessels.


A French frigate intercepted a drone flying from Yemen toward the Norwegian vessel and then escorted it to safety, likely averting a hijacking, the ministry of defense in Paris said Tuesday. The U.S. military said a fire broke out after the ship was struck separately by an antiship cruise missile.


The cargo vessel was carrying vegetable oil and traveling from Malaysia to Italy, Geir Belsnes, chief executive of the ship’s owner J. Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi, told The Wall Street Journal. Belsnes said the vessel had been damaged but the sailors on board weren’t hurt. “The crew is headed to a safe port,” he said.

The attack occurred as the tanker passed through Bab el-Mandeb, the strait between Yemen and northeast Africa that leads to the Red Sea. Many ships continue their voyage through the Red Sea to Egypt’s Suez Canal, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes handling roughly 12% of global seaborne trade annually.


Yahya Sare’e, a spokesperson for the Houthis, said the Strinda was hit because it was laden with oil destined for Israel.


Danish container line AP Moller-Maersk last month diverted two cargo vessels it managed on behalf of its Israeli owner, XT Shipping. Israeli shipping line Zim has also changed the routes of some of its vessels away from the Red Sea.


Last week, Maersk said it would add an emergency risk surcharge of $50 per 20-foot container and $100 per 40-foot container for vessels discharging in Israel. The carrier said the added cost would cover insurance premiums that have risen more than 200% since October. Zim said Tuesday that it would also increase its fares “given to the continuous threats to the safe transit and global trade in the Arabian and Red Seas.”

The escalation is forcing shippers to beef up security measures. Christopher Long, intelligence director at U.K. maritime security consultancy Neptune P2P Group, said his company had received requests for guidance on dealing with drones, from spotting their arrival to seeking the safest location when they attack.


The U.S. is pushing allies and partners to assemble a maritime coalition that can strengthen security in the Red Sea, seeking contributions for an existing task force, known as Task Force 53, to help monitor for illicit activity, according to U.S. officials.


So far some countries are either sending ships or considering doing so. The U.K. has deployed the HMS Diamond, a destroyer in the Royal Navy, which is joining other U.K. ships in the Gulf and Indian Ocean. The ship is meant to contribute to security in the region and ensure the safe flow of goods, officials said. The HMS Lancaster is already in the region, as well as three U.K. mine hunters and at least one support ship, officials said.


“The actions that we’ve seen from these Houthi forces are destabilizing,” said Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder on Tuesday. “This is an international problem that requires international solutions.”


The Yemeni rebels, who are armed and trained by Iran, have become the most active new regional threat to Israel and its allies as an alliance initially targeting Saudi Arabia is being repurposed as a proxy war with Israel.


The Houthis started targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea last month in response to the Israeli offensive in Gaza. The group hijacked an India-bound car carrier from a company partly owned by Israeli businessman Abraham Ungar.


On Dec. 3, the Houthis attacked one U.S. warship and three commercial ships in a matter of hours using ballistic missiles and drones, several of which American forces shot down. Before that, the Yemeni rebels had launched missiles directly toward Israel.


Washington has told Israel to let the U.S. military respond to the Houthis instead of taking action that could expand its conflict with Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah militia who are also supported by Iran, U.S. and other government officials said.


Iran, which supported the Houthis in 2014 in their conflict against other Yemeni groups and their Saudi and Emirati allies, is officially keeping a distance from their allies’ attacks on ships.


Iranian officials and advisers have previously said strikes out of Yemen on Israel or its interests would be part of Tehran’s attack plan in case the war in Gaza escalates into a regional conflict. They have also said Tehran favored using its allies rather than attacking directly, fearing reprisal by Israel or the U.S.


But Western security officials and experts say the current attacks are enabled by Iran, which the U.S. says trains, arms and advises the Houthis.


Long, a former British Naval officer previously deployed in the Persian Gulf, said “the Iranians are likely providing the intelligence” used to attack the vessels. He cited the permanent presence of an Iranian vessel in Yemeni waters that replaced an alleged spy ship damaged in an Israeli strike in 2021. He also said the commando tactics used by the Houthis to hijack the Galaxy Leader were reminiscent of Iranian methods used in the Persian Gulf, suggesting Tehran had trained them.


Over the years, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has supplied machine guns and rockets but also increasingly sophisticated technologies to the Yemeni group. The Houthis have received preassembled kits and spare parts from Iran, sometimes through Oman, to build missiles and drones, technologies that are now being used against shipping vessels, say people close to the IRGC, Western security officials and other analysts.


A spokesman for the Iran mission at the United Nations said Iran opposed a U.N. Security Council resolution that imposes an arms embargo on the Houthis. He said Tehran has abided to its implementation and that the Yemenis were capable of military self-reliance.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world...ng/ar-AA1lpimy