“Naval Attacks Near Yemen Spark Concerns in the Red Sea”
Last night, two ships were hit near the Strait of Bab al-Mandab, about 70 km from the coast of Yemen. A British container ship was hit by an anti-ship missile launched from the Yemeni coast and the other, a cargo ship, was relatively lightly hit by an unmanned aerial vehicle. At the same time, an American destroyer that was in the area managed to intercept at least one more missile that was launched in its direction.
The Houthi rebel organization from Yemen took responsibility for the attack and announced in a statement of solidarity that it will continue to prevent Israeli ships from sailing in the Red Sea until the end of the “Israeli aggression in Gaza”.
This is not the first naval attack by the Houthis in recent times. At the end of November, the Houthis took control of a ship carrying vehicles on board, claiming that its owners were Israelis. The ship is still in one of Yemen’s ports (the Houthis move the ship from port to port every few days in order to prevent an operation to release it). In addition, about a month ago, the rebels launched an attack drone against another ship, which was slightly damaged.
The Houthis, an organization established in the early 1990s, operates a developed naval arm, which includes naval commando capabilities, UAVs, unmanned “suicide” vessels, and an array of coastal missiles with ranges of up to 300 km made in Iran. The naval arm was developed with the help of Iran, which provided the means of warfare and financing, and at the same time Hezbollah, which established seven bases along the coast and trained the organization’s commandos.
The naval bases of the Houthis are located in an area defined as a “choke point”, an area where a significant part of maritime transport is carried out, the disruption of which may affect the global economy. About 12 percent of maritime trade between Europe and Asia passes through Egypt’s Bab al-Mandab, and their closure will have an impact on the global economy, it will damage the global supply chain, cause an increase in the prices of insurance and maritime transport, and as a result, an increase in the prices of various goods. The cost of blocking Egypt to the world economy is estimated at 9.6 billion dollars per day.
The Iranians understand the significance of closing the Red Sea, and the Houthis’ use of the maritime trade in the region is a signal to the State of Israel and the United States, that through its proxy organizations, it can impose a siege on Israel and severely damage its economy and security from the south as well. The volume of Israeli trade passing through Egypt’s Bab El Mandav is estimated at tens of millions of dollars every year.
Zim, quickly internalizing the threat from the south, changed her sailing routes to and from Asia, and her ships circled Africa for this purpose. This means that the sailing routes have been extended by 30 to 50 days, a matter that will significantly affect the prices of the products in Israel and their delivery times. This will be a direct hit to the Israeli economy.
They also understood the threat in the sea arm, and missile ships were transferred to the port of Eilat, waiting for the day of the order, for any mission assigned to them from gathering intelligence, defense against missiles and commando attacks to other attack missions.
The ships of the American Fifth Fleet are also scattered in the Red Sea and assist Israel in intercepting missiles and UAVs from Yemen and may even attack targets in Yemen. A few days ago a large weapons cache of the Houthis was attacked, an attack apparently carried out by the Fifth Fleet.
If the Houthis continue their offensive operations in the Red Sea, it is likely that we will see increasing offensive military involvement in the region by the United States and possibly other NATO vessels, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, for whom the threat to the Red Sea trade route is an intolerable economic and security threat.