The pool of vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that could be targets of Iran-backed Houthi rebels has greatly increased, according to maritime security firm Ambrey.
On Wednesday, the firm issued a new advisory to vessel owner-operators to expand their review to include the last three years to assess whether their vessels have been connected with Israel. This comes on the heels of recent attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, which Ambrey said were based on old data being used by the rebels. Iran, according to Ambrey, is an integral part of Houthi maritime intelligence gathering.
Read more: Viewpoint: What Red Sea attacks mean for shipping
The Number 9 vessel was one of the targets of the Monday attacks, and Ambrey explained Houthi records were outdated by two years. The vessel was operated by the Israeli company Zim, the world’s 10th-largest container line operator, until November 2021.
Ambrey warned that there has been other potentially mistaken targeting in similar incidents involving Iran, including the Unity Explorer. While owned and operated in the U.K., the Israel connection is among its management. Unity Maritime is controlled by Danny Ungar, the son of Israeli shipping businessman Abraham “Rami” Ungar. In November, the Houthis hijacked the 5,100-unit car carrier Galaxy Leader, part of Ungar’s shipping company, Ray Car Carriers.
“Sunday’s events indicated that used information may be out of date by as many as two years,” said Daniel Mueller, Ambrey’s lead analyst for the Middle Eastern region. “This is why we are advising vessel reviews to be expanded by three years.”
Ambrey recently calculated that more than 600 vessels worldwide may be affiliated with Israel. By expanding the vessel search by three years, Mueller said the number of vessels potentially at risk of being targets could increase up to 50%.
In its advisory, Ambrey urged owner-operators of any vessel found to be connected to Israel within the three-year window to assess the vessel’s route and its route predictability, as well as the vessel’s proximity to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian Navy assets and Houthi-controlled sites. It is also advised to identify the vessel’s planned ETA to those sites and the position relative to other potential targets. Considering the electronic signals policy, including information and minimization days before entry to the Red Sea, the Bab el Mandeb, and the Gulf of Aden, is also recommended.
Judah Levine, Freightos’ head of research, said there have not been reports of a significant downturn in Suez traffic yet.
“Israel’s Zim Lines did announce last week that its ZMP service, which employs 12 vessels in the service, will now be going around the Cape of Good Hope instead of transiting the Suez,” he said.
Mueller added that before the conflict, approximately 20 vessels connected to Israel were traversing the Suez Canal from both sides each week. Now Ambrey is tracking around 13 a week.
