The Houthis of Yemen, a Shiite rebel movement that belongs to the so-called Axis of Resistance sponsored by Iran against Israel – along with Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Lebanese Hizbullah and militias in Iraq and Syria – yesterday increased their pressure on the Red Sea trade route. . The Maersk Gibraltar, a Hong Kong-flagged container ship that was sailing from Salalah (Oman) to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) through the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, was ordered yesterday to head to Yemen and was immediately targeted by a missile launch that hit in water. This was reported by both the British Army organization that monitors Middle East routes and United States Defense sources cited by the AP agency.
This is the latest of the attacks attributed to the Houthis in their campaign for the war that is ravaging the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, two missiles missed a tanker carrying jet fuel after a failed boarding attempt that was assisted by a US destroyer that shot down a drone. On Monday another missile hit a Norwegian-flagged oil tanker. Both cases occurred near Bab el Mandeb. In November, the Houthis hijacked a ship loaded with cars linked to Israel and are still holding it near the port city of Al Hudaydah, while a container ship owned by an Israeli billionaire was attacked by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean.
The Houthis have threatened to attack any ship they believe is heading to or coming from Israel, although several of the ships attacked so far had no apparent link. The United States has stated that it is studying the deployment of an international naval force, which was answered yesterday by Iran's Defense Minister, Mohamed Reza Ashtiani, saying that "if they carry out such an irrational measure they will face extraordinary problems."
The first effects of the Houthi campaign on the maritime trade route are already being felt. The Bab el Mandeb Strait, between Yemen and Djibouti, is 29 kilometers at its narrowest point and “it is a basically important channel for Europe and the Mediterranean, it is Europe's main communication route because its largest trading partner is Asia,” explains Jordi Torrent, logistics expert and head of strategy at the Port of Barcelona. Some shipowners are beginning to avoid the Red Sea – passing through Bab el Mandeb and then the Suez Canal – to divert their ships towards the Cape of Good Hope, in South Africa, a detour that can take many days. "At the moment, it is a residual movement, and I imagine that the ability of the Houthis to affect traffic is reduced, but you never know..." Torrent points out. There is already talk of increases in cargo insurance – up to 50 or 100 dollars per container, for example – but in return “the Suez Canal Authority is offering discounts of 15-20% to ships going to northern Europe to discourage the Good Hope route (not to those who go to the Mediterranean because they lose many days if they go through South Africa).”
If the hypothesis that Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz – the great oil route – is still present in Western policy in the region, the possibility that it would control – through the Houthis – Bab el Mandeb is the same, and this would have a direct effect on the Suez canal. Saudi Arabia, in its war against the Houthis – since 2015 – has prevented their territorial expansion, counting on the help of not only the United Arab Emirates, the United States or Great Britain but even Al Qaeda. On the other hand, the Saudis have considered the Yemeni route and the port of Al Mukalla as alternatives, through oil pipelines, to the Hormuz route.
The current panorama has two derivatives, little linked to Gaza and much to the interests of Iran and the Yemeni Ansarulah movement, which is the official name of the Houthis, named after their founders, the brothers Hussein (now deceased) and Abdul Malik al Huthi. .
In 2018, the Emirates, partners in the international coalition against the Houthis, took the opportunity to militarily occupy Socotra, the magical island (in fact, an archipelago) of Sinbad the Sailor, declared a world heritage site by UNESCO. Following the signing of the Abraham Accords with Israel, the Yemeni island, with its strategic location facing the Gulf of Aden, has become an Israeli-Emirati military and intelligence center intended to monitor the Houthis and Iran.
On the other hand, the Houthis and Saudi Arabia maintain a ceasefire and a new round of direct peace talks that, according to Oman, which mediates, are on the right track. The campaign against the ships would also be destined to gain weight in the negotiation.
