The Red Sea experiences black days, and they are blacker with each passing day. The war, here, seems to want to stay there.
Houthi militias kept their word yesterday and responded with missiles to Friday’s US and UK attacks on their bases. They warned, first in the morning, by launching a projectile from Yemeni territory against the United States destroyer USS Lagoon at about 4:00 a.m. local time, which was intercepted. They confirmed it later with another missile also launched at 4 pm against the ship Gibraltar Eagle. The merchantman, a grain cargo ship, sustained minor damage on the port side and no one was injured, US Central Command confirmed. Shortly afterwards there were aerial bombardments near the airfield of Al-Hodeida, a port town controlled by the Houthi rebels.
These attacks mark, however, a separate point in the hostilities between the Shia militia backed by Iran and Washington. Because the Gibraltar Eagle, although sailing under the flag of the Marshall Islands, belongs to a company based in Connecticut. And because until now the Houthi attacks were justified in support of Hamas in the Gaza war, while the war lasts, and against ships related in one way or another to Israel.
Ha no.
The Gibraltar Eagle is from the United States and was attacked by the Houthis when it was sailing about 95 nautical miles (175 kilometers) from the coast in the southern Gulf of Aden. The USS Lagoon was attacked in the Red Sea. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday defended in Westminster that Friday’s strikes against the Houthi rebels, which destroyed their radar and missile storage and launch bases, were “limited”, “proportionate” and “necessary”. “. But far from being a solution, today, in Yemen, in the poorest country in the Middle East, in a country that has been at war for a decade, the war is on with the Americans and the British in the target.
And it’s already noticeable. And restless Because if 90% of what is transported on a global scale is done by sea, the Red Sea is one of its central points, and about 15% of the ships that connect the world pass through this point under normal conditions. And they don’t anymore.
In Eilat, the only city in Israel that faces the Red Sea, its port has no ships moored. About 5% of total Israeli imports are imported through this port compared to the ports of the Mediterranean (in particular Ashdod, north of the Gaza Strip), but it is empty. The ships that used to load Asian cars are not appreciated there, the cranes do not move, nor are there any methane tankers, and the pipes and tanks prepared for the gas are filled with dust.
And in the Jordanian port of Aqaba, right in front, the same can be seen.
In the two ports, yesterday’s attacks add even more uncertainty, since they take place not far from the Bab al-Mandab strait, a mandatory passage area for entering and leaving the Red Sea, which conditions the access of ships bound for the Suez Canal, Eilat, or Aqaba, and also on routes from Asia and the Middle East to Europe and vice versa.
Some of the largest maritime operators in the world, moreover, reaffirmed during the last few hours their decision to redirect their vessels through the Cape of Good Hope, passing through Africa and avoiding Yemen. And traffic across the Red Sea is estimated to have fallen by more than 40% since the start of the Houthi attacks in November. And the expansive wave reaches Egypt, which loses essential income for its economy day after day due to the Suez crisis. And it also reaches the West, where transport costs are increasing (according to the most recent calculations, at least by two) and with the fear that this, in the medium term, and if Bab al-Mandab continues to be obstructed, will have repercussions beyond.
The Red Sea is experiencing dark days, days of war, and the energy market is also suffering from them, particularly gas and oil originating in the Middle East. Because at least five liquefied natural gas ships operated by Qatar that were heading to the southern end of the Red Sea have been stopped since Friday, reports Bloomberg. And in the case of the oil tankers, the same thing happens, since at least six – Reuters details – were moving away from the area.
The US-led coalition against the Houthis attacked the militia for the first time in Yemen on Friday to secure the passage of ships through the Red Sea. The same coalition, however, is now advising merchant ships to exercise caution due to the growing danger in the area. And the fact is that Yemen’s Houthis have carried out at least thirty attacks against cargo ships transiting the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Red Sea since November. And they are not expected to be the last. Nor is Washington’s response expected to change.
