The Houthis, the rebel militia that’s terrorized Mideast shipping, want to help improve maritime security in the Red Sea — after creating a demand for it.
The Yemen-based group, which altered the global supply chain by attacking vessels on the key trade route to the Suez Canal, wants to host a webinar on … how to avoid attacks on vessels on the key trade route to the Suez Canal.
A maritime shipping trade publication said it received an email from the Islamic fundamentalist group, which controls about 40% of Yemen, seeking information on ideas for a webinar on Red Sea security.
The email, reportedly from the events manager for the Houthis’ Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), stated, “Within the framework of enhancing cooperation and discussing issues of common interest, your active participation will undoubtedly contribute to ensuring the success of this event and achieving the desired effect.”
The Red Sea has become a bigger business, for all the wrong reasons.
Researchers at the United Nations earlier this year reported that the Houthis were earning billions of dollars extorting protection payments from vessel operators. And, shipping lines got an unexpected benefit in the form of billions of dollars in profits after diverting services away from the Red Sea on longer voyages around the Horn of Africa.
The HOCC was responsible for earlier threats against shipping in the Red Sea that the group claims is connected to Israel. The attacks began in late 2023, shortly after the start of the war in Gaza, in support of the Palestinians and Lebanon in their conflicts with Israel.
But Israel killed the leaders of both Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, and after the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis may be reassessing their strategy.
Dozens of ships, including U.S. merchant and naval vessels, have been attacked with missiles, drones and watercraft. Four seamen have been killed, and two vessels and their crews held hostage in Yemen and Iran.
Find more articles by Stuart Chirls here.
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