DUBAI: The leader of Yemen’s Houthis warned on Wednesday they would strike US warships if the militia was targeted by Washington, which this week set up a multinational force to counter attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

The Houthis, who control vast amounts of territory in Yemen after years of war, have since last month fired drones and missiles at international vessels sailing through the Red Sea, attacks it says respond to Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

The US-led security initiative will see Washington and 10 other, mostly Nato countries patrol the Red Sea to deter and respond to future Houthi attacks that have so far led to major global shipping lines rerouting around Africa instead.

“We will not stand idly by if the Americans are tempted to escalate further and commit foolishness by targeting our country or waging war against it,” Abdel Malek Al Houthi said.

Companies complain they remain ‘in the dark’ about rules of engagement for force tasked with protecting shipping in Red Sea

“Any American targeting of our country will be targeted by us, and we will make American battleships, interests, and navigation a target for our missiles, drones, and military operations,” he said in a televised speech.

The Houthis and Lebanon’s Hezbollah have fired rockets at Israel since the fighting began. The Houthis have stepped up their Red Sea attacks, threatening to target all ships heading to Israel and warning shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports.

The attacks have disrupted a key trade route that links Europe and North America with Asia via the Suez Canal and caused container shipping costs to rise sharply as companies seek to ship their goods via alternative, often longer, routes.

On Nov 19, Houthi commandos landed on car carrier Galaxy Leader by helicopter and took it back to Yemen’s northern Hodeidah port. The vessel and its crew are still being held.

Dubbed “Operation Prosperity Guardian”, Britain, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, along with the US, will conduct joint patrols in the southern Red Sea and the adjacent Gulf of Aden.

“As long as the Americans want to enter into a direct war with us, they should know that we are not those who fear them, and that they are facing an entire people,” Al Houthi said.

He warned the Americans against sending soldiers to Yemen, saying they would “face something harsher than what they faced in Afghanistan and what they suffered in Vietnam”.

Shipping firms in the dark

Shipping companies remain in the dark over the navy coalition being assembled by the United States to combat attacks in the Red Sea, with many vessels continuing to avoid the area or cancelling contracts, sources said on Wednesday.

“There are still a number of unknowns with the coalition. We don’t know exactly how many warships will be involved, how long it will take those vessels to get to the region, or their rules of engagement and the actual protection scheme that will be put in place,” said Corey Ranslem, chief executive of Dryad Global, a British maritime risk advisory and security company.

“Globally this is a fairly small area; however, providing protection to commercial vessels in this region could be a major undertaking depending on the number of vessels along with any changes to the Houthi tactics.”

Ranslem said the threat to commercial shipping was likely to continue. “A number of global shipping companies are diverting around Africa or completely pausing operations within this region.

“If the coalition efforts are not effective, we expect more shipping companies to divert around the Cape,” he said.

Traffic through the narrow Bab Al Mandeb strait, connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, fell by 14 per cent in the Dec 15-19 period, compared with Dec 8-12, according to data from Marine Traffic, a ship tracking and maritime analytics provider.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2023