The Houthi movement has issued explicit warnings to shipping companies over their use of Israeli ports, raising concerns over maritime security in one of the world’s most critical trade routes.
Since October 2023, the Iranian-back Yemeni group has targeted commercial and naval vessels in Israeli-linked shipping routes, in retaliation for the country’s ongoing military operations in Gaza. The attacks, which have included seizures and aerial bombardments on American and British ships, as well as those of other European countries, have disrupted supply chains and led to a drop in maritime transit through the Red Sea.
On Thursday, Reuters reported that shipping companies had begun receiving threatening emails from the group, warning that their vessels would be targeted for docking at an Israel port. Senior executives and managers at the unnamed company were told that they had violated a transit ban imposed by the Houthis, and would be “directly targeted by the Yemeni Armed Forces in any area they deem appropriate.”
The ban, imposed by the rebels in late 2023, vowed to attack any Israeli, U.S. or British ship transiting through the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden or Arabian Sea. These critical lanes are frequently traversed by American and British vessels, and are considered a critical artery for global trade, providing the fastest path for the movement of goods between Europe and Asia.
In a recent incident, suspected Houthi militants launched an explosive-laden drone boat at a Panamanian oil tanker 70 miles from the Yemeni port city of Hodeida, which was followed by a missile strike on a separate ship, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center.
The latest threats, which Reuters said were part of an email campaign that has targeted multiple Greek shipping companies since May, threatened “sanctions” against the company, which was told it would “bear the responsibility and consequences” of violating the ban.
“You bear the responsibility and consequences of including the vessel in the ban list,” the email added, signed by the Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center, a Yemen-based organization set up in February to ensure the safety of shipping operators in the region.
Richard Meade is editor-in-chief of Lloyd’s List, which has been monitoring the Houthi attacks since November 2023, and spoke to Newsweek about the ongoing impact on commercial shipping routes.
Greek-owned ships have been a key target, accounting for around 30 percent of the attacks since November, which Meade said was due to their significant representation in the global fleet.
With over 100 such attacks carried out over the past year, Meade said that overall traffic in the Red Sea had declined by over 62 percent since November, with many bulk carriers, tankers and general cargo vessels forced to reroute around the southern tip of Africa to avoid Houthi ambushes.
He added that the reduction in Red Sea targets, as well as the difficulty in determining a ship’s exact affiliation, had led the Houthis to expand their targeting criteria beyond Israel, the U.S. and the U.K.
“With fewer ships going through that route, there are fewer opportunities for the Houthi to target them,” Meade said, compared to the early days of their campaign, when targeting ships in the Red Sea could be compared to “shooting fish in a barrel.”
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