Industry stakeholders have raised their concerns about the impact on global trade after the latest Houthi attack against a Norwegian chemical tanker.
According to a Lloyd’s List article, the disponent owner of the tanker, Strinda, said the vessel has no links to Israel. The ship caught fire after a missile was launched by the Houthis near Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
Houthis' spokesperson, Yahya Sare’e, said in a tweet that Strinda was targeted because it was sailing to Israel.
Another tanker was attacked today, 13 December, south of the Red Sea, when a boat approached tanker Ardmore Encounter and opened fire.
A report by FleetMon said that the tanker was later asked by forces to sail to Yemeni waters. When the tanker rejected the request, two missiles were fired from the Yemeni coast. It is said that an Israeli businessman has 5% shares in the vessel's ownership.
Last week, Yahya Sare'e said the Houthis would prevent the navigation of all ships heading to Israel regardless of their nationality.
In addition, Reuters reported that Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen's Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, warned commercial ships against "falsifying their identity" or raising flags different from the country belonging to the cargo ship owner.
Israel’s Port of Ashdod, the closest port to the current conflict in the Middle East, said on Tuesday that attacks on commercial vessels are a threat to global shipping traffic to Israel.
While port operations in Israel were not severely impacted by the events, security measures remain heightened at the terminals. The country’s container carrier ZIM, along with other leading liners such as Hapag-Lloyd and Maersk, introduced a War Risk Surcharge for ships calling Israeli ports.
According to data from maritime security firm Ambrey, the chemical tanker Strinda was planned to arrive in January. Experts at the firm commented on the situation by saying, “The level of risk has just increased for the maritime world.”
“Ultimately, vessels bound for Israel, no matter what arrival date, are at risk,” explained Daniel Mueller, lead analyst of Ambrey’s Middle East region. “It’s hard to manage at this point. It takes a lot of oversight for the operators to review all of their calls.”
