MEI Outlines Expanded US Role to Counter Houthi Red Sea Strikes

The Middle East Institute’s (MEI) Defense and Security Program published a memorandum, addressed to US President Joseph R. Biden, recommending an expanded role for the United States in countering the threat posed to global shipping by the targeting of vessels in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi militia. 

The memo, “A Strategy for Countering the Houthi Threat at Sea,” comes in response to the over 30 strikes conducted by Yemen’s Houthi militia on cargo and other vessels transiting the Red Sea since mid-November. It is co-authored by five members of MEI’s Defense and Security Program, including program Director Bilal Y. Saab, Vice Admiral (ret.) Kevin Donegan, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East Mick Mulroy, Lieutenant General (ret.) Sam Mundy, and General (ret.) Joseph L. Votel.

The authors call for a continuation of retaliatory strikes by the United States and United Kingdom against Houthi leadership and infrastructure, but argue this strategy is insufficient, and proceed to offer several additional recommendations for the US to protect shipping and counter Iran’s malign activities in the region.

“For the first time in four decades, a core US interest in the region on which successive American presidents have based US Middle East policy — freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce — is increasingly at risk,” said Bilal Saab.

“In our memo to President Biden, we propose a strategy to effectively and sustainably counter the Houthi threat at sea.”

Among the recommendations is the establishment of an interagency effort led by US Central Command (CENTCOM) to deny the Houthis the ability to target Red Sea vessels, including through efforts to interdict Iran’s smuggling of arms to the group as well as through continued strikes on Houthi infrastructure and leadership.

The memo calls on the Biden administration to allow the US 5th Fleet Commander to assert “collective self-defense” of US flagged, owned, crewed, or operated vessels, or ships requesting US protection while transiting the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden. Additionally, the authors call for increased funding for added unmanned surveillance vessels (USV) to patrol Red Sea waters. 

Though calling for an expanded US role, the recommendations also draw attention to international tools at the United States’ disposal, such as partnerships with European and Arab allies, as well as re-investment in the UN Verification Inspection Mechanism (UNVIM) tasked with monitoring and facilitating commercial flows to Yemen.

Houthis claim to have hit US container ship

The Houthi movement in Yemen says it has struck a US merchant ship in the Red Sea in a fresh attack targeting commercial shipping, reports Saudi Gazette. It named the ship as the KOI, which it said was US-operated.

Maritime security firm Ambrey said a vessel operating south of Yemen's port of Aden had reported an explosion on board but it did not name the ship.

Meanwhile, the US has launched new air strikes in Yemen, targeting 10 drones reportedly being set up to launch.

According to Reuters, KOI is a Liberian-flagged container ship operated by UK-based Oceonix Services. The same company's fleet includes the oil tanker Marlin Luanda, which was damaged by a missile on Saturday.

The Houthis regard all Israeli, US and British ships as legitimate targets following Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza, and US and British targeting of Houthi missile positions in what the two countries say are efforts to protect commerce.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Wednesday that the movement's armed forces had targeted an American merchant ship named KOI with "several appropriate naval missiles".

The ship, he said, had been heading to "the ports of occupied Palestine", a phrase which is sometimes used to mean Israel.

Yemen, he added, would not hesitate to retaliate against British-American escalation.

US Central Command said the 10 drones being prepared for launch in Yemen had posed a threat to merchant vessels and US warships in the region.

All 10 were destroyed along with a Houthi drone ground control station, it said.

The US added that one of its warships had shot down three Iranian drones and a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden.

US-led attacks on Yemen an exercise in futility

The United States and British operations against Houthi militants threatening ships in the Red Sea are making matters worse, China’s envoy to the European Union warned.

“They can only escalate the tension and it’ll not guarantee or maintain the safe passage of the commercial vessels,” Fu Cong said in an interview with Bloomberg. “It’ll even make the passage more dangerous.”

US Central Command forces conducted military strikes Wednesday against two Houthi anti-ship missiles, the latest in a series of efforts to diminish the group’s ability disrupt trade.

Hundreds of vessel operators that cross the Red Sea to access the Suez Canal as they move cargo between Asia, the US and Europe are avoiding the shortcut and taking the longer southern route around Africa.

It’s a massive diversion that’s delaying delivery of billions of dollars in goods, adding to costs and carbon emissions, and fueling fears of broader economic fallout, according to today’s Bloomberg Big Take. 

As the US and UK naval operations continue, the EU is moving ahead with its own plans to established a naval operation in the Red Sea to protect commercial shipping, but it’s still working out the details.

Fu, who is China’s top envoy in Brussels, said the Houthi attacks are a spillover from the Gaza crisis, where Israel has conducted its own military operations against Hamas militants who attacked, kidnapped and killed Israeli citizens on October 07, 2023.

Fu urged the international community, and the US in particular, to exercise more leverage or pressure on the Israeli authorities to stop the indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and in particular the civilians.

“Common sense will tell us that by escalating the tension, you will only aggravate the situation and you cannot resolve the problem with the approach that the US and UK are taking,” Fu said.

Courtesy: Bloomberg

Greek vessel hit by missile in Red Sea

A Malta-flagged, Greek-owned vessel has been hit with a missile in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, maritime security firm Ambrey reports It is thought to be the third incident involving the bulk carrier, believed to be named Zografia, in 24 hours.

Tuesday's incident comes as the US military announced it had seized Iranian-supplied weapons bound for the Houthis during an operation last week. Meanwhile, the US has hit more targets in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

An official told CBS, the BBC's American partner, that the US conducted further strikes on Houthi positions overnight.

The US and UK launched a wave of airstrikes against dozens of Houthi targets on Januart 11 following attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthis have vowed to retaliate and on Sunday the US said it had shot down a missile fired towards one of its warships from a Houthi area of Yemen.

Several vessels have been targeted by the movement's fighters since November in protest at Israel's war with Hamas.

The Houthis say they are targeting vessels which are Israeli-owned, flagged or operated, or are heading to Israeli ports.

The Red Sea connects the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal but several shipping lines have announced they are now diverting round the Cape of Good Hope to reach Europe instead.

The US said on Tuesday that analysis from the weapons it seized from a ship near the Yemen coast suggested the Houthis had been using the same kind of weapons in their Red Sea attacks.

"This is the first seizure of lethal, Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons (ACW) to the Houthis since the beginning of Houthi attacks against merchant ships in November 2023," US Central Command said in a statement.

United States sends private message to Iran

US President Joe Biden said America has delivered a private message to Iran about the Houthis in Yemen after the US carried out a second strike on the group.

"We delivered it privately and we're confident we're well-prepared," he said without giving further details.

The US said its latest strike was a follow on action targeting radar.

Iran denies involvement in attacks by the Houthis in the Red Sea. However, United States continues to allege that Iran is supplying weapons to Houthis.

It is believed that United States wants to disrupt smooth sailing of ships through Red Sea because about 15% of global seaborne trade passes through it. This includes 8% of global grain, 12% of seaborne oil and 8% of the world's liquefied natural gas.

Joint US-British airstrikes targeted nearly 30 Houthi positions in the early hours of Friday with the support of Western allies including Australia and Canada.

A day later, the US Central Command said it carried out its latest strike on a Houthi radar site in Yemen using Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.

A Houthi spokesman told Reuters the strikes had no significant impact on the group's ability to affect shipping.

Most Yemenis live in areas under Houthi control. As well as Sanaa and the north of Yemen, the Houthis control the Red Sea coastline.

The official Western government line is that the ongoing air strikes on Houthi targets are quite separate from the war in Gaza. These are a necessary and proportionate response to the unprovoked and unacceptable Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, they say.

In Yemen and the wider Arab world these attacks are viewed rather differently.

These assaults are seen as Britain and United States joining in the Gaza war on the side of Israel, since the Houthis have declared their actions to be in solidarity with Hamas and the people of Gaza. One theory even says that the West is doing Netanyahu's bidding.

It is still possible that these airstrikes will have a chilling effect on the Houthis. They will certainly degrade their capacity to attack ships in the short term. But the longer these airstrikes persist, the greater the risk that Britain and the US get sucked into another conflict in Yemen.

It has taken Saudi Arabia more than eight years to extricate itself from Yemen after a US proxy war and Houthis are now more entrenched than ever.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign of air strikes and ground operations against Hamas in Gaza have killed 23,843 Palestinians so far with thousands more believed dead under rubble. 

United States adamant at stopping ships entering Red Sea

After the latest attacks at Yemen on Saturday, it has become evident that United States and its allies, particularly Britain, are adamant at stopping ships passing through Red Sea. The strikes at Yemen are aimed at opening a new front in the Middle East and take attention away from ongoing genocide in Gaza by Israel.

It is necessary to understand why United States is targeting Yemen. For a long time US has fought a proxy war in Yemen. After the resumption of diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Iran and Saudi refusal to join the US-led naval force, United States wants to target Yemen.

It may be recalled that ships had resumed journey through Red Sea, which was not appreciated by United States. Therefore, it raised false flag of attacks on ships by Houthis to create a justification of attacks on Yemen.

Readers can recall the US hoax call of presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq to pave way for attack on the country. Even at that time British Prime Minister, Toney Blair was the mouthpiece of US President George Bush.

 According to Associated Press (AP), the US military early Saturday struck another Houthi-controlled site in Yemen that it had determined was putting commercial vessels in the Red Sea at risk.

The latest strike came after the US Navy on Friday warned American-flagged vessels to steer clear of areas around Yemen in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for the next 72 hours after the initial airstrikes.

The warning came as Yemen’s Houthis vowed fierce retaliation, further raising the prospect of a wider conflict in a region already beset by Israel’s war in Gaza.

 “We will make sure that we respond to the Houthis if they continue this outrageous behavior along with our allies,” Biden told reporters during a stop in Emmaus, Pennsylvania.

Iran stations warship in Red Sea as US aircraft carrier leaves

Iran's Alborz warship has passed through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and entered the Red Sea, the country's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Monday. Iranian warships have been operating in the region to secure shipping lanes since 2009, Tasnim said.

Iranian-backed groups have not reduced their attacks in the Middle East. On the opposite, pro-Iranian media sought to highlight how the attacks are increasing. Al-Mayadeen media, which is pro-Iran, claimed that there were attacks targeting Al-Asad based in Iraq and Shaddadi in Syria, two places where US forces are located. The US is in Syria and Iraq to help defeat ISIS.

Reports on December 31, 2023 said that the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier is heading out of the Mediterranean is also raising eyebrows in Iran and the region. While Gaza fighting appears to be reduced slightly, Iran continues to want to manage the conflict against Israel. Iranian Tasnim ran a long interview about the role of Qasem Soleimani in the region. Although the interview is ostensibly about Soleimani, who was killed in January 2020 by the US, the report examines recent details about the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen targeting ships and Palestinian terror groups targeting Israel.

The article raises questions about presence of US aircraft carriers in the region. There were two carriers in the region, the Eisenhower and Ford.

The US had sent the second carrier after the October 07, 2023 attack to deter Hezbollah and others from escalating attacks.

The Iranian regime's view is that these naval assets have not been able to prevent the Houthis in Yemen from continuing attacks on ships. However, a US helicopter destroyed three small Houthi boats over the weekend, indicating that the Houthis are taking losses.

The story about the US carrier leaving the region was covered in Al-Mayadeen media, which is pro-Iran, showing that pro-Iran figures in the region are watching this development closely.

Get ready for closure of Mediterranean Sea and Gibraltar

The deputy coordinator of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps said on Saturday that the United States and its allies might have to halt their activities in several more waterways due to their persisting crimes in the besieged Gaza Strip. 

“Yesterday, the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz were a nightmare for them, today the Bab-el-Mandeb and the Red Sea have grounded them, and with the continuation of these crimes, they should soon expect the closure of the Mediterranean Sea and Gibraltar,” said General Mohammadreza Naghdi.

The US has formed what it calls an international alliance to counter Yemen’s attacks in the Red Sea, which have been targeting Israeli-bound ships in recent weeks in response to the regime’s killing campaign in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Attacks by the popular Ansarullah movement have been recorded against Israeli-linked vessels. This has caused Israel’s Eilat Port to see an 85% drop in activity. 

The high-ranking IRGC official warned that more resistance groups are to be formed in the future if the US and the Israeli regime do not put an end to their massacre of innocent people. 

"Today we all witness the unprecedented awakening of nations. The people in the entire world have been on the streets for nearly 80 days and are shouting for justice. Throughout these days, people file lawsuits and shout against the oppressors," he added.

The latest round of Israeli attacks on Gaza, which began after a successful operation by Palestinian resistance group Hamas on the occupied territories, has killed more than 20,000 civilians in the past 80 days. More than 70% of the dead are comprised of women and children.

Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubbles in the territory as those managing to flee from Israeli bombardments grapple with a lack of food, water, and medicine due to a full siege by the Israeli regime. 

Vessels still heading into Red Sea

According to Seatrade Maritime News, three container ships, one each from MSC, Maersk and CMA CGM, were identified on VesselsValue AIS heading south in the Suez Canal towards the Red Sea, despite the carrier’s saying they had re-routed vessels around the African Cape.

Houthi Group missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels have seen many vessels already diverted, but some ships continue to use the critical Red Sea waterway, which has at its northern extremity the southern entrance to the Suez Canal.

A number of other container ships from Cosco, Wan Hai, MSC, Maersk, and CMA CGM were identified either having already transited the Bab al-Mandeb Strait or heading for the mouth of the Red Sea, which leads into the Gulf of Aden and into the Indian Ocean.

In total in the Red Sea region AIS identifies around 80-90 container vessels having already transited, or about to transit the Red Sea in the near future.

Most of the top ten container carriers have made statements saying that their vessels would avoid the Red Sea/Suez waterways until the security situation was alleviated.

Houthi Group missile and drone attacks on commercial vessels have seen many vessels already diverted, but some ships continue to use the critical Red Sea waterway, which has at its northern extremity the southern entrance to the Suez Canal.

A Maersk spokesman pointed to its statement, when asked about the prudence of sailing via Suez. The statement said, “Having monitored developments closely and retrieved all available intelligence, Maersk has decided that all vessels previously paused and due to sail through the region will now be re-routed around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope for safety reasons.”

Maersk also pointed out that some of its vessels operate under the Maersk Line Limited banner which operates for the US Government and is not part of Maersk Line’s overall offering.

Other carriers contacted by Seatrade Maritime News, including CMA CGM and MSC did not respond.

Meanwhile, the international maritime task force of around 10 countries called Operation Prosperity Guardian, which includes naval forces from Italy, Spain, the UK and the US among others was today joined by Greece which has sent a frigate to bolster the naval coalition.

Greek Defence Minister Nikos Dendias said in a statement today: "The frigate will participate in the multinational operation 'Prosperity Guardian', for the protection of merchant ships, the lives of seafarers, and the global economy,".

In addition, the International Union of Marine Insurers also made a statement on the 19 December condemning the attacks on shipping: “Provision of hull and cargo insurance has become increasingly challenging due to the heightened risk. As insurers, we are continuously assessing the situation to ensure adequate coverage and support for our clients, while also advocating for enhanced safety measures.”

 

 

Rerouting of vessels to disrupt supply chains

Mounting attacks by Yemenis on ships in the Red Sea are disrupting maritime trade as leading global freight firms reroute around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid the Suez Canal.

The group said it launched a drone attack on a cargo vessel in the area on Monday, the latest in a series of missile and drone strikes on shipping which it says are a response to Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip.

Several major freight companies, including MSC, have begun to sail around Africa, adding costs and delays which are expected to be compounded over the coming weeks, according to industry analysts.

About 15% of world shipping traffic transits via the Suez Canal, the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.

Combined, the companies that have diverted vessels control around half of the global container shipping market, ABN Amro analyst Albert Jan Swart told Reuters. "Avoiding the Red Sea will lead to higher cost due to longer travel time," Swart said.

Oil major BP also temporarily paused all transits through the Red Sea, a sign the crisis - which has mostly affected goods freight until now - might broaden to include energy shipments. Crude oil prices rose on those concerns on Monday.

The Houthi attacks were forcing companies to rethink their connections with Israel, with Taiwan's Evergreen Marine saying on Monday it had decided to temporarily stop accepting Israeli cargo.

"For the safety of ships and crew, Evergreen Line has decided to temporarily stop accepting Israeli cargo with immediate effect, and has instructed its container ships to suspend navigation through the Red Sea until further notice," it said in a statement.

The war between Israel and Hamas, which began on October 07, has sent shockwaves through the region and drawn in the United States and its allies on one side and Iran-backed paramilitary groups in the Middle East on the other, threatening to cause a broader conflict.

The shipping attacks have prompted the United States and its allies to discuss a task force that would protect Red Sea routes, a move that US and Israeli arch-foe Tehran has warned would be a mistake.

Rico Luman, an analyst at ING, said the diversions were adding at least a week of sailing time for container liners. Typically, shipping goods from Shanghai to Rotterdam takes around 27 days via the Suez Canal.

"This will at least lead to delays in late December, with knock-on effects in January and probably February as the next round will also be delayed," Luman said.

While freight rates will likely increase on these longer voyages too, carriers at the moment are seeking ways to utilize excess capacity, said Zvi Schreiber, CEO of global freight platform Freightos.

"It is unlikely that rates will spike to levels experienced during the pandemic," said Schreiber, referring to the economic effects of COVID-19 from 2020.

Shipping stocks rose across European exchanges in morning trading on Monday after a jump on Friday on bets the shift away from the Suez Canal could boost rates. A.P. Moller-Maersk rose 3.5% in early trade in Copenhagen, before paring some of those gains.

The Suez Canal is an important source of foreign currency for Egypt. Some 90% of world trade is transported by sea.

The International Chamber of Shipping Association said on Friday that the Houthi assault on shipping lanes, which began last month, was an "extremely serious threat to international trade" and urged naval forces in the area to do all they can to stop the attacks.

 

Iran rejects US naval task force for Red Sea

Iran’s defense minister has dismissed US plan to form a marine task force in the Red Sea with the apparent goal of defending vessels headed toward Israel.

Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani issued a severe warning to the United States in statements that were made public stressing that there is no space in the region for foreigners to move around and establish a presence.

He also expressed confidence that the United States would never do such a foolish conduct since it would generate a slew of complications.

“Americans would not definitely do such a thing. If they intend to do such a foolish act, they will face plenty of problems,” the Iranian official warned.  

Following a string of Yemeni attacks on ships that were either Israeli-owned or sailing toward the occupied Palestinian territories, the Pentagon announced last week that it was prepared to assist in the formation of a maritime task force to safeguard commerce shipping in the Red Sea. This announcement prompted the warning.

National security advisor to President Joe Biden, Jake Sullivan, stated on December 04 that such patrols or escorts could be the proper reaction to ships being targeted in the region.

The US has hinted that a number of important countries have shown interest in joining the maritime task force.

Yemen’s Ansarullah resistance movement dismissed US plans to form a maritime task force in the Red Sea, saying the group has numerous stinging pressure leverages that can be activated in the strategic body of water.

“We have stinging pressure leverages against the countries that will participate in the coalition in the Red Sea against Yemen,” said Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of Ansarullah's political bureau.

Earlier this month, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman rejected British accusations that Iran was involved in a spate of attacks targeting Israeli vessels in the Red Sea, calling the claims baseless and politically motivated. 

“These claims are raised with specific political motives and indicate the efforts of the British authorities to distort the realities of the region and their susceptibility to the preferences of third parties, including the child-killing Zionist regime,” Nasser Kanaani said.

He added that such provocative statements by London pose a threat to regional and international stability. 

“As we have stated clearly before, the resistance groups in the region do not take orders from the Islamic Republic of Iran to confront and respond to the war crimes and genocide of the Zionist regime. These groups make their own decisions based on their principles, priorities, and interests of their country and people.”

Kanaani also advised the British authorities to focus their energy on bringing an end to the Israeli war crimes in Gaza, instead of coming up with baseless accusations. 

Yemenis have declared open support for Palestine’s struggle against Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 07 in response to the territory’s Palestinian resistance movements carrying out a surprise retaliatory attack against the occupying entity, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm.

 

Yemen one of the key resistance in Gaza war

When Israel began its deadly attacks on Gaza, few thought that Yemen would become one of the key players in this war. The intervention of Ansar Allah of Yemen in the recent war is subject to several considerations and analyses.

One dimension of this intervention is economic. In fact, Ansar Allah has opened the third economic front against Israel.

The first front is related to Gaza. Tel Aviv has called up 360,000 reserve forces in attacking Gaza, and tens of thousands have also left southern Israel.

On the second front, Hezbollah's movements in northern Israel have also paralyzed the economy of this region.

The economic costs on these two fronts have been high for the regime. Official sources in Israel have admitted that the country's economy has shrunk by 15% in the last three months of the year.

The tourism industry has almost stopped, and retail has also declined significantly. The unemployment rate has reached about 10%, while in the month before October, this rate was less than 4%.

Ansar Allah started their economic war against the regime in the foreign trade field by opening the third front.

They began their work less than a month ago by seizing the Galaxy Leader. They recently announced that only Israeli ships will not be targeted, insisting all commercial ships that travel from Israeli ports to another country or vice versa will be seized or attacked.

In recent days, they have attacked several container ships in the Red Sea. The attacks have led to the closure of Eilat port, and commercial ships are forced to circumnavigate the whole of Africa to reach Israeli ports without any hassle, resulting in increased travel time and therefore higher transportation costs.

These attacks have not only increased insurance cost for the ships heading to Israel, but also burdened the already under-pressure Israeli economy.

The Red Sea corridor is vital for Israel's economy, and the continuation of the current situation will become increasingly difficult and expensive for it.

"National Security Council" has issued urgent instructions to Israel’s ports to remove information related to the arrival and departure of ships from their websites.

Another solution proposed by some Zionist experts is to transport goods to Port Said in Egypt and unload them there, then transfer them to smaller ships and transport them to Israeli ports. However, this solution is not practically feasible. In fact, they know that they have no practical and military options against Ansar Allah.

However, the most important hope for Israel is to try to turn their problem into everyone's problem. They are doing their best to pretend that Yemen's actions endanger international trade security in the Red Sea and thus force others to solve their problem.

Although the Americans are involved in this project with Israel, as the revolutionary authorities of Yemen have stated, no one can prevent them from supporting the oppressed people of Palestine.

They have clearly announced the solution: stop the massacre in Gaza and deliver food, medicine, and vital goods to the besieged people. 

Ansar Allah's confrontation with Israel is not limited to economic warfare, and despite the great distance from the occupied territories, they have conducted missile and drone attacks on Israel.

The courageous actions of the Yemenis have embarrassed some Islamic countries that have many pressure tools to stop Israel's killing machine but do not use them. 

All of this is happening while the Yemenis themselves have been facing war and severe siege for more than 8 years ‑ despite all these pressures, they are stronger than ever in regional equations.

Without a doubt, making the Red Sea insecure for the economy of the Israeli regime is not the Yemenis' last card in this game. Bigger surprises may be on the way that the Yemenis will reveal in due time.

Courtesy: The Tehran Times

 

Maersk to pause container ship traffic through Red Sea

Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk will pause all container shipments through the Red Sea until further notice and send them on a detour around Africa, a spokesperson for the company told Reuters on Friday.

"Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice," the company said in a statement.

Maersk on Thursday said its vessel Maersk Gibraltar was targeted by a missile while travelling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and that the crew and vessel were reported safe.

Earlier on Friday Maersk denied a claim by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement that the militia had struck a Maersk vessel sailing towards Israel.

"The vessel was not hit," a Maersk spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement following the Houthi claim.

The Houthis had claimed they carried out a military operation against a Maersk container vessel, directly hitting it with a drone. The Houthis, who made the claim in a statement, did not release any evidence.

Maersk said the company was deeply concerned about the highly escalated security situation in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

"The recent attacks on commercial vessels in the area are alarming and pose a significant threat to the safety and security of seafarers," it wrote in the statement.

 

 

US coalition to halt Houthi threat to shipping

The Biden administration is building an international coalition to halt the threat the Iranian-backed Houthis pose to international shipping routes in the Red Sea, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters in Israel on Friday.

“We will continue to take every step we deem necessary and appropriate to deal with the threat the Houthis pose,” he said, adding that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin would tackle this issue during his visit to Israel and the region next week.

“That response shouldn’t just be from the US. It should be a broader coalition of countries working together in concert,” he said.

The Houthis have said they are attacking ships to protest Israel’s military campaign to oust Hamas from Gaza, but Sullivan said the issue was much broader, particularly given Iran’s involvement.

“We are building a coalition we are working to ensure and rally the nations of the world, all of whom have an interest in seeing this stop,” Sullivan said.

“While the Houthis are pulling the trigger they are being handed the gun by Iran and Iran has a responsibility to take steps themselves to cease these attacks because they are a fundamental threat to international law and international peace and security,” he said.

“This is not about the US and Israel, this is about the entire international community,” Sullivan explained.

“The Houthis represent a material threat to freedom of navigation to commercial shipping, to lawful commerce and they are doing so in a vital artery,” he added.

“The US is working with the international community, with partners from the region and from all over the world to deal with this threat,” he added.

He spoke as a Liberia-flagged container ship sustained damage from an aerial attack as it was sailing through the Bab al-Mandab strait, causing a fire on the deck and a container to fall overboard, the British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Friday.

Ambrey reported the vessel was owned by Hapag-Lloyd and had been sailing south through the Bab al-Mandab strait in the southern Red Sea when it was attacked by a projectile 50 nautical miles north of the Yemeni Red Sea port of Mokha.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking vessels in Red Sea shipping lanes and firing drones and missiles at Israel since the start of the Gaza war

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Tuesday they carried out a military operation against the Norwegian commercial tanker STRINDA.

The group targeted the tanker with a rocket after the crew refused to respond to all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sareea said in a televised statement.

He added that the group had managed to obstruct the passage of several ships in recent days, acting in support of the Palestinians.

He vowed that the Houthis would continue blocking all ships heading to Israeli ports until Israel allows the entry of food and medical aid into the Gaza Strip - more than 1,000 miles from the Houthi seat of power in Sanaa.

 

 

Yemen: Houthis hijack cargo ship in Red Sea

Reportedly, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthis have seized an Israeli cargo ship in the Red Sea. They said the vessel was then taken to a port in Yemen.

Israel said the ship was not Israeli, and no Israelis were among its crew. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said this was another act of Iranian terrorism.

Iran has not commented.

Houthis had threatened to hijack Israeli ship within their reach over Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel says 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 taken hostage during the surprise Hamas attack on the south of the country on October 07.

Israel has launched a massive military operation — involving air and artillery strikes as well as ground troops — with the aim of eliminating Hamas.

The Hamas-run Health Ministry says the death toll in Gaza since then has reached 12,300. More than 2,000 more are feared to be buried under rubble.

The Houthis have fired several missiles and drones towards Israel just after Israel launched its retaliatory operation.

The United States said at the time that all the missiles and drones were intercepted by its warship in the Red Sea.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described the attack on the ship — which it did not name — as a very grave incident of global consequence.

The IDF said the vessel was on its way from Turkey to India when it was seized in the southern Red Sea near Yemen.

Although, Israel says the seized vessel does not have any connection with it, unconfirmed reports suggest the ship may have an Israeli owner.

In Sunday’s statement on social media, Netanyahu said that Israel strongly condemns the Iranian attack against an international vessel.

He said the ship was owned by “a British company and is operated by a Japanese firm”, adding that “25 crew members of various nationalities including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino and Mexican” were on board the ship.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian has recently said that what he called resistance groups allied to Tehran were cleverly adjusting pressure on Israel and its supporters.

Earlier this month, the Houthis shot down a US military drone off Yemen’s coast, American officials said.

The Houthis have been locked in a prolonged civil war with Yemen’s official government since 2014.

UN starts removing oil from tanker near Yemen

The United Nations said on Tuesday it had started the removal of more than one million barrels of oil from a decaying supertanker off Yemen's Red Sea coast in a complex operation it hopes will ward off a regional disaster.

UN officials have been warning for years that the Red Sea and Yemen's coastline was at risk as the Safer tanker could spill four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.

A UN spokesperson said on Tuesday a spill could cost US$20 billion to clean up.

The war in Yemen caused the suspension in 2015 of maintenance operations on the Safer, which is used for storage and has been moored off Yemen for more than 30 years.

The UN, which has never before undertaken such a rescue mission, has warned its structural integrity has significantly deteriorated and it is at risk of exploding.

"In the absence of anyone else willing or able to perform this task, the United Nations stepped up and assumed the risk to conduct this very delicate operation," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.

"The ship-to-ship transfer of oil which has started today is the critical next step in avoiding an environmental and humanitarian catastrophe on a colossal scale."

The oil transfer is expected to take 19 days to complete, the United Nations' Development Program (UNDP) said in a statement.

"We are obviously very cautious – it's only the beginning of a transfer," UNDP spokesperson Sarah Bel told a Geneva press briefing when asked about the operation's risks.

"The cost of an oil spill is estimated to be approximately US$20 billion, and it will take years to clean up," she added.

She warned that any spilled oil could reach the African coast, damaging fish stocks for the next 25 years and destroying 200,000 jobs.

It would also close ports that bring food and supplies to Yemen, where some 17 million people rely on humanitarian aid, she said.

 

Yemen: Operation to salvage FSO Safer gets under way

Yemeni Foreign Minister Ahmad Bin Mubarak said the groundwork has started for salvaging the decaying FSO Safer supertanker and averting an oil spill in the southern part of the Red Sea.

A technical team from SMIT Salvage, a leading Dutch dredging and maritime service provider, has arrived at Ras Isa Port, the minister said in a press release, noting that an alternative tanker will arrive in the coming few weeks.

The FSO Safer salvage operation is the fruit of years-long cooperation between the Yemeni government on one hand, the United Nations and international partners on the other, he said.

Bin Mubarak attributed the long delay of the operation to the stubbornness of the Houthi militias who kept rejecting less expensive solutions to the problem.

Since the Yemen Pledging Conference, held in The Netherlands in May last year, until the second event, co-hosted by the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in early May 2023, the UN has raised US$107 million for salvaging the supertanker.

The UN operation aims, at the first stage, to unload up to 1.14 million barrels of oil from the decaying tanker into another one, now en route to site.

The second stage envisages providing a permanent alternative to Safer which has been moored in western coast of Yemen since mid-1980s.

FSO Safer, a floating storage facility, holds oil coming from Safer onshore oilfields in Maarib governorate as a prelude to unloading it to oil tankers.

The maintenance of the facility has come to a standstill since 2015 after the Houthis rebels denied the UN experts access to site which risked triggering a huge environment crisis in the region.

UN officials have been warning for years that the Red Sea and Yemen’s coastline was at risk as the Safer tanker could spill four times as much oil as the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster off Alaska.

The Ndeavor tanker, with a technical team from Boskalis/ SMIT, is in place at the Safer tanker off the coast of Yemen’s Ras Isa, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Yemen David Gressley said on Twitter from on board the Ndeavor.

The war in Yemen caused suspension of maintenance operations on the Safer in 2015. The UN has warned its structural integrity has significantly deteriorated and it is at risk of exploding.

The Safer is set to transfer its oil to a replacement tanker, the Nautica, which set sail from China in early April. The salvage operation cannot be paid for by the sale of the oil because it is not clear who owns it, the UN has said.

“Work at sea will start very soon. Additional funding is still important to finish the process,” the UN said on its Yemen Twitter account

Russia’s downing of US drone sparks fears

Russia’s apparent attack of a US drone in international airspace on Tuesday quickly sparked concerns, spurring anxiety in Washington and drumming up fear across the nation of a wider escalation between the two countries.

The Biden administration and lawmakers have blasted Russia for what they called an unprofessional and unsafe maneuver in which two Russian jets damaged a US MQ-9, forcing it to crash land in the Black Sea Tuesday.

Top American defense officials and experts quickly pointed out the unusual nature of the incident.

“This is extremely unusual, I’m not aware of an incident like this that’s occurred over the last year of conflict over there,” Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall told The Hill.

Intercepts between US and Russian aircraft are not uncommon, with several cases happening near Alaskan airspace so far this year. But the drone incident is uncommon and unfortunate and unsafe, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters at the Pentagon.

While it’s unclear if this was a case of a rogue pilot or not, the US European Command called the Russian actions dangerous, noting that they could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation.

US aircraft have operated over the Black Sea since before Russia invaded Ukraine, using the highly advanced MQ-9 spy drone to keep eyes on the region. But Tuesday’s incident marks the first publicly known case of a Russian warplane purposely damaging a US aircraft amid the conflict.  

Administration officials said the MQ-9 was flying over the Black Sea on a routine flight before it was flanked by two Russian jets. 

The jets flew alongside the drone for 30 to 40 minutes before one of the jets flew in front of it and dumped fuel. One of the Kremlin jets then struck the drone’s propeller, forcing it to crash into the Black Sea.

While there have been a number of close-call incidents with Russian aircraft in the past, what makes this case unique is it involves an uncrewed US aircraft, a detail that could keep tensions from blowing up, according to Becca Wasser, a senior fellow with the Center for a New American Security.  

“The incident is deeply concerning given the context in which it takes place, but the fact that it was an uncrewed platform is likely to reduce the chances of it boiling over,” she told The Hill.

Wasser pointed to a similar incident in 2019 when Iran shot down an RQ-4 Global Hawk, which did not result in a direct US military response.

Stephen Twitty, a retired lieutenant general and former deputy commander of US European Command who is now a distinguished fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said the incident can be resolved and it was important that Washington not escalate tensions any further.

“What we cannot do is jump with hotheadedness to take both of our countries into conflict,” Twitty said. “We cannot let the Russians provoke us into doing something irrational. 

“This is about more than about the United States — this is about us and 29 other countries,” he continued, and “we need to conduct ourselves in a manner that does not take NATO or the United States to war.”

Russian officials seem to have rebuffed efforts from US officials to communicate about the incident.

At the Pentagon, Ryder said that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has not yet spoken to his Russian counterpart.

The US military in March 2022 created a channel known as the de-confliction line to communicate directly with the Russian military to prevent miscalculations and escalation over the war in Ukraine.

But some calls have gone unanswered on Moscow’s side at critical times.

In November, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley attempted to speak with his Russian counterpart following a missile-caused explosion in NATO ally Poland but was unable to get through.

Neither Austin nor Milley have spoken with their Russian counterparts since October.

When asked about Tuesday’s drone incident at a press event, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger said his biggest worry was a collision in the early morning hours and the potential roadblocks of trying to communicate about it to de-escalate.

Still, the State Department intends to reach out to Russian officials, according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Tuesday.

Russian ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov was summoned to the State Department, where he met with officials to discuss the incident.  

US officials are now likely weighing the circumstances over Russia’s actions as they contemplate their response, with questions over where the drone was, how it interacted with the Russian jets and how it was brought down.

Other considerations include whether there was any warning or communication before the Russians reacted as this can help inform the US reaction.

“I don’t know the details [of the Russian interception and drone downing], whether the drone was near something sensitive to them,” said former US Ambassador to Poland Daniel Fried, now a distinguished fellow with the Atlantic Council.

Fried said he views the incident as part of the ongoing sour relationship the US has had with the Kremlin since during the Cold War, made anew when Russia invaded Ukraine.

But while on the rougher end of the harassment scale, he views the drone attack as saber rattling.

The drone attack prompted fury in Congress on Tuesday. Sen. Jack Reed, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, blasted Russia as reckless and inept.

“There is no other way to describe Russia’s behavior in this collision with a US drone over [international] waters,” Reed tweeted. “This pattern of Russian provocation must end.”

Reed, who praised the professional manner of the US military response, told reporters on Tuesday they will have to investigate how the disturbing incident unfolded and determine the sequence of events and how deliberate of a provocation it was.

Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, tweeted the incident was further proof that the threat Russia poses towards the US and NATO has not receded.

“Putin and his cronies are attempting to test our resolve – a test that we cannot afford to fail,” Rogers wrote.

Speaking on the Senate floor, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer called the attack brazen and dangerous.

“I want to tell Mr. Putin, stop this behavior before you are the cause of an unintended escalation,” Schumer said. “We have seen this behavior from the Russian military before, and it will not deter the United States from conducting operations over the Black Sea.”

 

Defending submarine cables in Back Sea

Deep in the world’s oceans and seas lies a network of submarine communication cables connecting continents and regions. This critical infrastructure, owned mostly by international consortia of private telecommunication companies, spans, in total, more than 1.3 million kilometers and handles over 95% of the world’s data.

The rise of projects like SpaceX’s Starlink and their use in the war in Ukraine has increased the attention on satellites and space security. However, submarine cables remain a crucial yet underappreciated part of the global communications system. The widespread use of these cables by private individuals, businesses, and government agencies makes their protection a matter of national and international security.

As fighting rages on in Ukraine, the cables in the Black Sea could be in danger of disruption. Accidents have caused damage to the cables in the past, and stepped-up naval activity in the region could raise the risk of vessels accidentally cutting the lines lying on the seafloor.

Moreover, deliberate Russian attacks on these cables, either through cyber operations or physical destruction, follow the Kremlin’s modus operandi of targeting critical infrastructure to gain strategic advantage without necessarily delivering decisive blows against its enemies.

To ensure regional security in the communication and data spheres, Black Sea states must increase their emphasis on protecting submarine cables, including within the format of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or novel regional frameworks.

Unlike the attacks on land-based power grids and energy pipelines, the threat to submarine cables is still a hypothetical national security concern as no definitive case of sabotage by a state actor has been confirmed thus far.

However, some defense officials, notably the chief of the British Defense Staff, Admiral Tony Radakin, have begun to emphasize the security implications of the cables’ vulnerabilities, especially in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has been investing in capabilities that would allow specialized submarines to place explosives on the seafloor, physically endangering underwater communication infrastructure. In addition to the Russian navy, the Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI) — known as Russia’s “Deep-Sea Spetsnaz” — can undertake covert operations along the seabed.

NATO officials suspect that GUGI has been increasingly focusing on undersea cable networks in recent years. Notably, in January 2022, Norway detected damage to one of two fiber optic cables off the Svalbard archipelago; suspicions that the cable disruption may have been intentional grew later that year, after a mysterious explosion crippled the underwater Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, an incident that is still under investigation.

Skeptics argue that such concerns are exaggerated, especially since companies that own these undersea networks have been building redundancies to provide different data flow routes in case of a disruption to one cable.

Of the four Black Sea submarine cables, the only one physically connected to the territories in conflict is the Kerch Strait Cable, which links the occupied Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland. Not only is the cable owned by Rostelecom — Russia’s largest telecom firm — but any disruption to communications and internet in Ukraine through sabotage would affect Russian forces on the ground as well.

The primary objective of such an attack on submarine cables would be to create confusion and anxiety among the affected populations. The Kremlin could also order sabotage operations on cable networks connected to Ukraine’s allies in North America and Europe specifically to exacerbate the growing war fatigue caused by high inflation and gas prices.

Other than the Kerch Strait Cable, Rostelecom also owns the Georgia-Russia cable system in a joint venture with Georgian and Danish companies. Stretching across the Black Sea, the Caucasus Cable System, owned by Caucasus Online, connects Georgia and Bulgaria. In the west, Türk Telekom International operates the Black Sea Fiber Optic System (KAFOS), which has landing points in Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania.

Yet a multinational security apparatus — whether through NATO or a Black Sea regional defense cooperative — is needed to help private companies successfully defend existing systems and launch future projects. The war in Ukraine has exposed NATO’s deficiencies in preventing and responding appropriately to potential Russian sabotage operations on critical infrastructure.

Measures taken by private companies to implement redundancies to limit the impact of individual disruptions will mitigate the risks of widespread internet blackouts. And if NATO states invested more in the defense of these networks, Russia would lose a potential point of leverage against the Alliance.

NATO defense ministers highlighted the importance of identifying the threats posed to submarine infrastructure, particularly by the Russian navy. As part of this effort to enhance security, NATO tasked Joint Force Command Norfolk (JFC-NF) to monitor and protect these networks in the Atlantic.

Introducing a similar mission concept to the Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea regions could be a productive step in ensuring the security of NATO’s exposed southeastern flank. The next iteration of the Black Sea Maritime Forum, first convened on February 25 of last year, could provide the appropriate platform to advance this issue and discuss solutions among Black Sea states with NATO involvement.

Regionally, coordinating strategic interests among the Black Sea states, especially with NATO, has always been a challenge. Despite Romania’s vocal support for an increased NATO presence in the region, the lack of enthusiasm from Turkey and Bulgaria has hindered progress toward sufficient Black Sea defense.

Turkey’s hesitation may be because of its “middleman” approach to the competition between Russia and the United States. Even as Russian aggression continually destabilizes the Black Sea region, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan remains unwilling to fully commit to the West’s punitive stance against Moscow.

Turkey’s expanded trade relations with Russia, despite increasing pressure from the US to abide by Western sanctions, and its foot dragging on ratifying Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO, demonstrate the country’s insistence on prioritizing its own security concerns, even at the expense of hindering a united Euro-Atlantic front.

However, Turkey must not overlook the importance of securing the critical infrastructure networks in the Black Sea, including submarine communication cables, especially as one of them — KAFOS — has a landing point in Istanbul, near the Bosporus Strait. Given Ankara’s interest in minimizing the risk of escalation in the Russo-Ukrainian war, it should contribute to the broader Black Sea region’s underwater domain awareness as well as monitor key vulnerabilities that could be exploited or put at risk by a malign actor — whether Moscow or anybody else.

Short of a wider North Atlantic Alliance mission, Turkey should actively cooperate with other Black Sea states, including non-NATO member Georgia, in pursuing their own regional security framework that would include as its mission the protection of submarine cables in the Black Sea.