Attacks on Red Sea shipping: a nice little earner, for some

The past year has reportedly seen some 150 attacks on merchant shipping underway in the Red Sea. The attackers, formerly identified as “Houthi Rebels,” have now taken to referring to themselves as “Yemeni Armed Forces” and to using established international media channels to publicise their attacks.

The attackers formerly relied upon land-launched drones and cruise missiles, but nowadays, their preferred mediums of aggression are armed fighters embarked in small boats and uncrewed surface and underwater vessels fitted with explosive charges.

Providing protection of vessels in the sea is proving to be difficult. British and US warships that had previously been fighting off swarms of drones and missiles have been diverted to other trouble spots, leaving just varying numbers (usually one or two) of EU warships in-theatre under the auspices of “Operation Aspides.”

Inevitably, the Red Sea attackers have spotted a new, profitable, and probably long-term niche, with reports circulating within the shipping world indicating that large-scale “protection money,” intended to ensure unimpeded passage for ships whose owners have paid up in advance, is finding its way into the pockets of the Houthis via convoluted routes. A recent UN report claimed that the past year has seen the Houthi rebels pocket US$2 billion from their attacks on shipping.

Politics, commercial pressures, and the complex patterns of operation, manning and ownership of contemporary will together likely make it very difficult for maritime law enforcement to counter this development. Some analysts even believe that other maritime criminal elements will probably soon try to muscle in on the highly lucrative action.