Houthi leader Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi has sent a message to vessel operators that the Houthi military will not target any vessels that confirm they will make no Israeli port calls.
Al-Houthi told the BBC, “Any country that gets involved with the US-led coalition to protect Israeli ships will lose its maritime security and will be targeted.”
In a social media message, Al-Houthi had told carriers that all ships transiting the Red Sea and Bab El-Mandeb Strait, “should broadcast the words, we have no relationship with Israel,” he said.
“This is a simple and low-cost solution that will incur no financial expenditures for any business,” he claimed, adding that this action, “does not need the militarisation of the Red Sea and will not jeopardise international navigation”.
Rumours had spread that the Houthi authorities were making deals with individual carriers, a view that has been treated with suspicion by a number of sources, including some at the IMO, with a spokesperson pointing out that such a deal by a vessel operator would be difficult, “who would they deal with?” they asked.
Peter Sand, chief analyst at Xeneta, told Container News, “Only very niche carriers may afford to do something like this. I can’t imagine any carriers, reliant on western hemisphere customers agreeing to anything like that.
“Supply chain reliability, predictability and stability is of utmost importance, but not at any cost. Specifically, blackmail-cost like this,” added Sand.
In fact, it seems that a number of vessel owners, mainly bulk carriers and tankers have now made clear the destination of their vessels via their AIS tracking systems.
Even so, US Central Command reported yesterday that it had repelled a complex Houthi attack consisting of 18 drones and a ballistic missile. A statement said that bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and three other US Navy vessels with the UK’s HMS Diamond had shot down the missiles.
“This is the 26th Houthi attack on commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea since 19 November. There were no injuries or damage reported,” said the US Central Command statement.
In New York, the UN is scheduled to vote, today (10 January), on a resolution that would condemn and demand an immediate halt to attacks by the Houthis on commercial vessels in the Red Sea area.
The latest vote comes just days after the new IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez had condemned the attacks at the UN Security Council meeting, saying, “Ships must be allowed to trade worldwide unhindered and in accordance with international law.”
Meanwhile, in its latest report, Maersk has confirmed, “The situation [in the Red Sea] is constantly evolving and remains highly volatile, and all available intelligence at hand confirms that the security risk continues to be at a significantly elevated level. We have therefore decided that all Maersk vessels due to transit the Red Sea / Gulf of Aden will be diverted south around the Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future.”
Mary Ann Evans
Correspondent at Large
