US strikes Houthi anti-ship missiles, shipping disruptions grow
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[January 19, 2024]
By Trevor Hunnicutt, Steve Holland and Krishn Kaushik
ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE/WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI (Reuters) -The U.S. launched
new strikes against Houthi anti-ship missiles aimed at the Red Sea on
Thursday, as growing tensions in the region's sea lanes disrupted global
trade and raised fears of supply bottlenecks that could reignite
inflation.
The two anti-ship missiles targeted in the strikes were being prepared
by Yemen's Houthis for firing into the Red Sea and deemed "an imminent
threat" to shipping and U.S. Navy vessels in the region, the U.S.
military said.
Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in and around the Red
Sea since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe and alarmed
major powers in an escalation of the war between Israel and Palestinian
Hamas militants in Gaza.
In the second attack this week on a U.S.-operated vessel in the region,
the Genco Picardy came under attack in the Gulf of Aden late on
Wednesday, sparking a fire onboard and prompting the Indian Navy to
rescue the crew.
India diverted a warship deployed in the region to rescue the 22 crew on
board the Genco Picardy, including nine Indians. The crew were all safe
and the fire was extinguished.
The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and have
threatened to target U.S. ships in response to American and British
strikes on the group's positions.
The strategy pursued by U.S. President Joe Biden - a blend of limited
military strikes and sanctions - appears aimed at preventing a wider
Middle East conflict even as Washington seeks to punish the Houthis,
security and military experts say.
Biden on Thursday acknowledged that the strikes had not halted attacks
by the militants but said the U.S. military response would continue.
"Are they stopping the Houthis? No. Are they gonna continue? Yes," Biden
told reporters aboard Air Force One.
The Pentagon sought to portray the U.S. strikes as a defensive act
designed to protect the seas.
"We are not at war with the Houthis," said Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina
Singh. "The Houthis are the ones that continue to launch cruise
missiles, anti-ship missiles at innocent mariners...What we are doing,
with our partners, is self-defense."
In the latest sign that Houthi attempts to attack ships continue
unabated, British maritime security firm Ambrey said a Marshall
Islands-flagged chemical products tanker reported the suspicious
approach of drones 103 miles southeast of Aden.
The Houthis claimed responsibility, saying they targeted the American
ship Chem Ranger with naval missiles, resulting in "direct hits."
"The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that a retaliation to the American and
British attacks is inevitable, and that any new aggression will not go
unpunished," a statement from the group said.
In another incident, Ambrey said a U.S.-owned tanker reported four
unmanned aerial vehicles approached and circled the vessel,
approximately 87 miles southeast of Yemen's Mukalla.
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A cargo ship boat model is seen in front of "Red Sea" words in this
illustration taken January 9, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File
Photo
Following the attack on the Genco Picardy, the U.S. military said
its forces had conducted strikes on 14 Houthi missiles on Wednesday
that "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy
ships in the region". Thursday's strikes were similar to those on
Wednesday, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby
told reporters aboard Air Force One.
SUEZ CANAL SUFFERS
The attacks target a route that accounts for about 15% of the
world's shipping traffic and acts as a vital conduit between Europe
and Asia.
The alternative shipping route around South Africa's Cape of Good
Hope can add 10-14 days to a journey compared to passage via the Red
Sea and Suez Canal.
A sharp downturn in revenue from the Suez Canal has struck a painful
new blow to Egypt's already deteriorating economy. The chairman of
the Suez Canal Authority said last week that revenue had fallen by
40% in the first 11 days of January.
Wheat shipments via the Suez Canal tumbled almost 40% in the first
half of January to 0.5 million metric tons, the World Trade
Organization said on Thursday.
The Red Sea crisis was rippling through the business world and
reviving concerns about stretched supply chains that emerged when
activity picked up after the COVID-19 pandemic.
The re-routing of a growing number of vessels is altering refuelling
patterns and boosting demand for bunker fuel used by ships at
far-flung ports, from Mauritius to South Africa to the Canary
Islands.
Denmark's Maersk and other large shipping lines have instructed
hundreds of commercial vessels to stay clear of the Red Sea. The
attacks, as well as weather-related closures and stoppages in
Europe, risked causing congestion at several container terminals,
Maersk told its customers on Thursday.
Officials at Rotterdam Port, Europe's largest, expect traffic to
become busier from the end of January as delayed ships start to
arrive but they do not expect any serious logistical issues.
Ports in Italy and France are worried about being bypassed as ships
steer away from the main Mediterranean route.
"We are not observing a significant impact as of today but it's a
concern," Christophe Castaner, chairman of Marseille port, told a
press conference.
If the crisis persists, one scenario could be that vessels
travelling around Africa call in at Morocco and transfer goods to
other ships to serve the Mediterranean, he added.
(Additional reporting by Jonathan Landay, Shivam Patel, Idrees Ali,
Phil Stewart, Simon Lewis, Pavel Polityuk, James Davey, Patrick Werr,
Toby Sterling, Gus Trompiz, Terje Solsvik, Jeslyn Lerh, Wendell
Roelf, Robert Harvey, Yomna Ehab and Hatem Maher; Writing by Keith
Weir and Deepa Babington; Editing by Catherine Evans, Emelia
Sithole-Matarise, Daniel Wallis and David Gregorio)
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