The military spokesman of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebel group in Yemen claimed Monday afternoon that the terrorists attacked two commercial ships transiting the Red Sea with kamikaze drones. The Houthis claimed that both, which the group claims were an oil tanker and a container ship, were headed to Israel.
“The first, “Swan Atlantic,” was carrying oil, and the second, “MSC Clara,” was carrying containers. Both were targeted by two naval drones,” the Houthi spokesperson said. “The targeting of the two ships came after the crews refused to respond to the calls of the Yemeni naval forces.
The spokesperson claimed that “all ships heading to all ports around the world, except to “Israeli” ports will not be harmed, and urged them to “keep their identification systems open.” He emphasized, however, that Houthi forces “will not hesitate to target any ship” that defies instructions in the group’s previous statements.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm their continued efforts to prevent all ships, regardless of nationality, heading to “Israeli” ports from navigating in the Arabian and Red Seas until what our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip need in terms of food and medicine is brought in,” the Houthi spokesperson added.
USS Carney Rescues Chemical Tanker from Houthis
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) first reported an explosion in the Red Sea on Monday morning near a vessel in the area of the Bab El Mandeb Strait, about 30 nautical miles south of the Yemeni port of Mokha.
US officials said the Swan Atlantic, a chemical tanker owned by Inventor Chemical Tankers, was shelled launched from an area under the control of the Houthis, the Reuters news agency reported. The US Navy destroyer USS Carney responded to the ship’s distress call.
The 20,000 DWT vessel, sailing under the flag of the United Kingdom, was targeted by multiple missiles. One of the missiles hit the ship, according to Ship & Bunker. The attack was stopped by the approach of the USS Carney. The US is organizing an international task force to improve security in the waterway.
International Vessels Attacked Over the Weekend
The Liberian-flagged MSC Palatium III was attacked on Friday with a drone in the Bab al-Mandab Strait off Yemen, at the southern end of the Red Sea, according to the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen who claimed responsibility for the incident. No injuries were reported, but the vessel suffered some fire damage and was taken out of service, MSC said in a statement.
Another Liberian-flagged vessel, Hapag Lloyd’s Al Jasrah, was hit by a missile, the US military reported.
Also this weekend, the Houthis attempted to attack the Maersk Gibraltar cargo vessel.
Houthis Force Shipping Firms to Avoid Red Sea, Suez Canal
Oil giant BP announced Monday that it has paused all shipping via the Red Sea following increased attacks by the Yemen-based Houthi group.
Maersk did the same. “Following yesterday’s attempted attack on the Maersk Gibraltar ship and another attack on a cargo ship today, we have instructed all Maersk ships that are supposed to pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to halt their journeys until further notice,” the global shipping giant said Saturday in an announcement. Maersk is the second-largest shipping company in the world, with 300 vessels.
The German company Hapag-Lloyd also suspended transit through the Red Sea for its vessels, as did the French CMA CGM company and the world’s largest shipping company, Swiss MSC.
The Taiwanese shipping company Evergreen also said it would “temporarily suspend” its import and export service with Israel “due to rising risk and safety considerations,” NBC News reported.
The Hong Kong Maritime shipping giant OOCL also announced this weekend that it “will immediately cease handling Israeli shipping of any kind and to any port, whether importing or exporting.”
Suez update: 46 container ships now have diverted around the Cape of Good Hope rather than transiting the Red Sea. pic.twitter.com/4zaTXn3LO1
— Ryan Petersen (@typesfast) December 18, 2023
At least 46 vessels have changed their transit routes to avoid the Red Sea, sailing instead around the Horn of Africa — a much longer journey, thus more expensive for those waiting to buy the goods when they finally arrive.
Egypt has lost $100 million in revenue generated by the Suez Canal as a result of the Houthi activity.
Serious Threat to Israeli, World Economy
The Red Sea route enables East-West trade — 20 million barrels of oil daily — to use the Suez Canal to save the time and expense of sailing around the southern tip of Africa. But it means passing the coast of Yemen on the way to Europe.
Thus far, seven top global shipping firms have opted for safety over risk, and suspended their Red Sea transit routes despite the added time and expense.
For those who are still willing to take the risk, war risk insurance premiums have risen as a result, with insurance companies doubling their rates for vessels transiting the Red Sea.
Those that sail around the Horn of Africa add two weeks to a month to their schedules, in addition to the added fuel costs for the route. Israel is paying a very high price for having allowed Hamas a relatively free hand in Gaza over the past decade, both in blood and foreign policy.
But the Israeli economy is also paying a very high price, according to Dr. Elyakim Ben Hakoun, from the Industrial Engineering and Management Faculty at the Technion Institute of Technology.
Ben Hakoun told the CTech news outlet this weekend, “About 99 percent of goods (in terms of cargo volume) reach Israel by sea, and around 40 percent of the cargo arriving in Israel passes through the Suez Canal.
“The consequence of stopping ship traffic in the Red Sea is to circumnavigate Africa, leading to an extension of shipping times by approximately two weeks to a month, depending on the destination region, vessel speed, and ship category. This roughly translates to an additional cost of $400,0000-$1 million per ship,” Ben Hakoun explained.
Houthis ‘Joining the Fight’ Against Israel with Hamas
The Yemeni coast, controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, is located at the southeastern end of the Red Sea. The waterway flows into the Bab El Mandeb Strait and into the Gulf of Aden, south of Yemen.
The Houthis have threatened to attack any vessel transiting the waterway on its way to or from the State of Israel, in solidarity with Hamas following the terror organization’s October 7th invasion of southern Israel. Some 3,000 raging barbarians led by Hamas tortured, beheaded, burned and raped more than 1,200 people during the attack, most of whom were civilians, and abducted an addition 240 people, dragging them into Gaza.
The Houthis announced shortly after Israel launched a military response to the rampage that it, too, was “joining the fight.”
In response, the US moved up the Eisenhower aircraft carrier battle group, even as the Houthis threaten the United States, its aircraft carrier and Israel with “weapons you have never seen” and “deep attacks.”
