On Wednesday 10 January 2024, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution condemning “in the strongest possible terms” the attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on civilian shipping through the Red Sea.
When the Yemen-based Houthi rebels launched their attacks in mid-November 2023, they initially focused on ships travelling to or from Israel. Today, they are attacking all commercial vessels indiscriminately, regardless of flag or ownership.
So far, over two dozen attacks have been carried out, resulting in shipping companies abandoning the Suez Canal in favour of a detour around Africa. Weapons systems are said to be advanced and include ballistic missiles, unmanned remote-controlled surface drones and aerial drones.
The rebels claim to be carrying out the attacks in sympathy with the terrorist group Hamas in Gaza, which is also supported by Iran.
The UN resolution demands that the Houthi rebels immediately cease their attacks and release the hijacked merchant ship Galaxy Leader and its crew.
Economical consequences
In addition to the economic problems that the attacks on international trade traffic create for Egypt, the owner of the Suez Canal, the incident has also become a problem for the world economy, due to the significant additional costs of travelling around Africa. These ultimately affect consumers of capital goods in Europe and elsewhere.
Michelle Wiese Bockmann, an analyst at Lloyds in London, says to VOA there is an immediate impact on maritime traffic through the Red Sea:
– Trade [through the Red Sea] is down by about a third. But most of that is container ships. That is the high value goods that are going from Asia through to Europe. Very few vehicle carriers are going through
