Important Takeaways:
- The U.S.-led campaign against the Houthi rebels, overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, has turned into the most intense running sea battle the Navy has faced since World War II
- The combat pits the Navy’s mission to keep international waterways open against a group whose former arsenal of assault rifles and pickup trucks has grown into a seemingly inexhaustible supply of drones, missiles and other weaponry.
- Near-daily attacks by the Houthis since November have seen more than 50 vessels clearly targeted
- The Houthis say the attacks are aimed at stopping the war in Gaza and supporting the Palestinians, though it comes as they try to strengthen their position in Yemen.
- All signs suggest the warfare will intensify — putting U.S. sailors, their allies and commercial vessels at more risk.
- The U.S. has been indirectly trying to lower tensions with Iran, particularly after Tehran launched a massive drone-and-missile attack on Israel and now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels.
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Important Takeaways:
- Houthi militants said the US and UK killed at least 16 people with airstrikes on Yemen on Thursday, in the deadliest assault on the group since the start of a campaign in January to prevent its attacks on ships around the Red Sea.
- The Iran-backed militant organization on Friday said it targeted a US aircraft carrier in the area, the Dwight D. Eisenhower, in response. Though, there was no attack in the vicinity of the ship and it wasn’t hit, a Politico reporter said, citing a US Defense Department official.
- The militants have vowed to continue their attacks in solidarity with Palestinians and are calling on Israel to stop its war against Hamas in Gaza.
- The assault comes as Israeli troops pursue Hamas militants in Rafah. The US, European Union and other allies have either urged Israel to stop its operations in the southern Gaza city or do more to protect civilians.
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Important Takeaways:
- Houthis launch attacks on 3 ships, 2 US destroyers in nearby seas, group says
- Its attacks have forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and stoked fears of the Israel-Hamas war spreading and destabilizing the Middle East.
- Earlier, the Houthis said on Monday they launched attacks on three ships in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, and two US destroyers in the Red Sea.
- The group, which describes its attacks as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s war in Gaza, said the ships were the Larego Desert and the MSC Mechela in the Indian Ocean, and the Minerva Lisa in the Red Sea. It did not name the destroyers.
- There was no immediate confirmation from shipping companies or the US military of any attacks in those areas.
- The Houthis’ military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, did not specify when the attacks took place, but said in a televised speech the group had used missiles against the ships and drones against the US destroyers.
- The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in retaliation for their attacks on vessels.
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Important Takeaways:
- “We are serious about welcoming students that have been suspended from U.S. universities for supporting Palestinians,” an official at Sanaa University, which is run by the Houthis, told Reuters. “We are fighting this battle with Palestine in every way we can.”
- Sanaa University had issued a statement applauding the “humanitarian” position of the students in the United States and said they could continue their studies in Yemen.
- The U.S. and Britain returned the Houthi militia to a list of terrorist groups this year as their attacks on vessels in and around the Red Sea hurt global economies.
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Important Takeaways:
- An underwater communication cable between India and Europe in the Red Sea managed by Seacom has been cut, the company confirmed in an interview with Bloomberg today.
- The cable runs in an area where the rebel group in Yemen called the Houthis have been targeting ships with drones and missiles. Other underwater cables, namely, Asia-Africa-Europe-1 (AAE-1), Europe India Gateway (EIG), and Tata Global Network (TGN) systems connecting Jeddah in Saudi Arabia to Djibouti have also cut off in the Red Sea, as per a report by the Israeli publication Globes.
- Of these, the AAE-1, provides internet to a wide range of countries including Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, and India; EIG provides internet to 12 countries including the United Kingdom, Portugal, Egypt, and India; and TGN systems links linking Mumbai in India with Marseille in France.
- The repairs of these cables are expected to take about eight weeks and exposes those making said repairs to potential attacks by the Houthis.
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Important Takeaways:
- Houthi rebels release video of $30 million US drone shot down in Yemen – the second they’ve destroyed in months – as Red Sea tensions escalate
- Houthi rebels released footage of what they claim is a $30 million US drone they shot down in Yemen – the second they’ve destroyed since late last year- as Red Sea tensions escalate.
- The Houthis released video Tuesday of a surface-to-air missile bringing down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone off the coast of Hodeida, a Yemeni port city they hold on the Red Sea.
- The footage included a video of men dragging pieces of debris from the water onto a beach.
- Meanwhile, the Houthis claimed an attack on the Sea Champion, a Greek-flagged, U.S.-owned bulk carrier full of grain bound for Aden, Yemen, carrying grain from Argentina.
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Important Takeaways:
- How the Houthis could get revenge on the U.S. for airstrikes by cutting a FIFTH of the world’s internet
- Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen could try to sabotage internet cables in the Red Sea carrying nearly one fifth of the world’s web traffic, according to a spate of new warnings.
- Yemen’s government warned that the Red Sea is ‘one of the three most important meeting points for cables’ on the globe and the Houthis pose a ‘serious threat to one of the most important digital infrastructures in the world.’
- It came after a Houthi social media channel published a map showing the routes of various cables through the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea.
- The map was accompanied with the ominous message: ‘It seems that Yemen is in a strategic location, as internet lines that connect entire continents – not only countries – pass near it.’
- The average depth of the Red Sea is 450 meters but some are at depths of as little as 100 meters.
- There are 16 cables passing through including a sprawling 15,000-mile long one called Asia Africa Europe-1 (AAE-1) which supplies broadband to Asia and Europe.
- It connects a litany of countries including France, Italy and Greece, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, India and Pakistan.
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Important Takeaways:
- Freight through Suez Canal sinks 45% amid Houthi attacks
- About 39% fewer ships have passed through the canal than at the start of December, leading to a 45% decline in freight tonnage
- UNCTAD, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, which supports developing countries in global trade, says that 39% fewer ships than at the start of December transited the canal, leading to a 45% decline in freight tonnage.
- Container shipments through the canal tumbled 82% in the week to January 19 from early December, while for liquified natural gas (LNG), the decline was even greater. The drop-off for dry bulk was smaller, and crude oil tanker traffic was very slightly higher, the agency said, according to Reuters.
- The Suez Canal is a critical shipping lane, given that it offers vessels a direct route between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
- About 15% of world shipping traffic, including 30% of global container trade, passes through the Suez Canal. But to avoid being attacked or having their cargo stolen, many ships are instead sailing around the Cape of Good Hope, which is a much longer way around the continent of Africa.
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Important Takeaways:
- U.S.-owned ship hit by missile from Yemen in Gulf of Aden
- The condition of the ship and the extent of the damage caused by the missile strike are still undisclosed
- A missile fired from Yemen struck a U.S.-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, according to reports from the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations and private security firms.
- Ambrey and Dryad Global identified the vessel as the Eagle Gibraltar, a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier owned by Eagle Bulk, a firm based in Stamford, Connecticut, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
- While no group has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion is firmly pointed at Yemen’s Houthi rebels, known for their recent involvement in almost daily maritime incidents in the region.
- U.S. Central command said on X that the ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey.
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Important Takeaways:
- ‘Coalition of the Unwilling’: U.S. Won’t Attack Houthis, Can’t Get Major Arab Countries to Join Effort Openly
- The “coalition” of countries formed by the U.S. to deter Houthi attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb strait excludes Israel. It also omits Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two of the other countries directly affected by the threat.
- The list of participants in “Operation Prosperity Guardian,” as Time magazine notes, includes “Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, the Seychelles, and the United Kingdom.” A few are involved in shipping. A few barely have a navy.
- Kirby cited a “joint statement” that was signed by 44 countries as proof that the U.S. was not “isolated” on the issue. But while the U.S. could summon its allies to sign a piece of paper, it could not convince them to send forces to protect Red Sea shipping. Nor could it muster the will to take out a primitive militia from one of the world’s poorest countries with long supply lines to Iran.
- Kirby also said that the U.S. is now conducting a “review” about whether to re-designate the Houthis as a terror group, after President Joe Biden delisted them within days of taking office in 2021. Meanwhile, it leads a “coalition of the unwilling.”
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