Since 2023, the Red Sea has witnessed a substantial number of attacks on shipping vessels carried out by the Houthis, an Iranian-backed Yemeni rebel group that controls a considerable part of the country, including the capital Sana’a, and a large portion of the country’s Red Sea coast.
They have been targeting maritime traffic as a response to the Israel-Palestine conflict in support of Palestine, with initial attacks targeting ships with ties to Israel and its citizens.
That said, there have been numerous confirmed attacks on vessels of varying origins with limited, if any, actual ties to Israel. The attacks target vessels transiting through the Bab al-Mandab Strait, the chokepoint between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, forcing the shipping industry, which relies on the trade passage, to undertake longer, and more costly routes to contend with rising insurance and security costs and fluctuating oil prices as a result. With nearly 15% of global seaborne trade transiting through the Red Sea, markets have been affected but it is likely that oil and Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) prices will remain supported unless tensions escalate.
Please click here to read the full article, complete with citations, which was published by our partner, Commodity Trading Club, in their Q4 2024 magazine.