Yemeni rebels have managed to disrupt cross-border maritime trade. Red Sea Missiles and navy drones are constantly being launched against ships passing through.
four main Shipping companies and oil company BP in the world They temporarily vetoed the passage of their ships through the sea corridor connecting Asia and Europe via the Suez Canal. They are being systematically attacked by the Houthis (Shiite militias supported by Iran) in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The route is no longer safe and oil and gas prices are starting to climb to monthly highs. Sea freight rates have already increased by 30% to 40%.
This is Yemeni rebels’ retaliation against Israeli bombings of Gaza, and it has already nearly caused a stir. 20,000 deadmostly women and children.
How did this group from Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East, manage to control international trade?
“The Houthis inherited weapons from the Syrian army and received Iranian weapons. Local engineers also made do with what they had,” he explains to this newspaper. Jesus Manuel Perez Triana, security and defense analyst. “It’s a bit like the A team being locked in a hardware store,” he jokes.
Especially the Yemeni rebel army ASEF anti-ship missiles (versions of the Iranian Fateh 313), with a range of 400 kilometers and other so-called tankel (versions of the Iranian Zohair), reaching up to 500 kilometers. With these, the Houthis were able to reach ships in the Red Sea and parts of the Gulf of Aden, defense expert Fabian Hinz writes in X.
“The Houthis succeeded with the help of Iran” Build an arsenal of precision-guided rockets, Hinz stated that the missiles, land attack cruise missiles and anti-ship capabilities can be completed in a very short time.
Missiles of Chinese origin
“The main missile used by the Houthis is C802possibly an Iranian variety known as Noor. “These are weapons that, with the necessary modifications, can be used to attack ships,” he explains to this newspaper. Yago Rodríguez, PhD student in the field of military innovations of the insurgencies. “The C 802 itself belongs to the second generation of anti-ship missiles developed in China: unlike the previous generation, it has a warhead half the size: we went from half a ton of explosives to up to 300 kilos of explosives.” “They’re not too difficult to get hold of, but if they send them to you in groups, you’ve got a problem.”
Explosive head uses the so-called “self-generating projectiles”, They are the intermediate point between shaped explosive and shrapnel-driven high explosive. However, in 2016 they already managed to destroy the HSV-2 Swift ship in the Red Sea.
Attack on ships in the Red Sea from Yemen
Drones have also been added to the arsenal of modified missiles. One of them managed to evade Israeli anti-aircraft defenses and exploded in the city of Eilat.
On the same Monday, Yemeni rebels attacked two more merchant ships. drones navy ships: Panamanian-flagged MSC Clara and Norwegian Swan Atlantic. There were no injuries but ships were hitAccording to shipping companies. Norwegian Iventro Chemical Tankers reported that one of their tankers was attacked.
This is on top of dozens of attacks and cargo ship hijackings in recent weeks. According to EFE’s report, major companies are looking at alternative routes, particularly via the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, a journey from the Gulf to Europe that could add ten days of travel and even more from Asian ports.
The world’s leading freight transport company in terms of load capacity, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC)and suspended this course; This measure was repeated this Monday by the oil company BP and the Chinese shipping companies COSCO, OOCL and Evergreen Marine. French CMA, Danish Maersk and German Hapag-Lloyd also gave up the Red Sea route in the face of intensified attacks in recent days.
Approximately 12% of the world passes through the Red Sea. world crude oil supply and 8% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) is transported by sea, so disruption to ships’ passage means disruption for energy importing countries like Spain, which imported close to 5% of gas from Qatar last year.