As of: January 22, 2024, 5:26 p.m
By: Jens Kiffmeier
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The Houthi rebels from Yemen are causing fear and terror in the Red Sea with their attacks.
© dpa
Request to be spared: Ship crews have recently been trying to avoid attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea using unorthodox methods.
Sanaa – Lower fuel costs, less time spent: Despite numerous attacks by the Houthi rebels, many shipping companies continue to allow their ships to sail through the Red Sea.
There seems to be no alternative to passage, especially for smaller companies.
They accept the danger to the crew.
But the sailors are now apparently relying on some unorthodox methods to avoid being targeted by the radical Islamist terrorist organization.
The sailors send direct messages and information to the Houthi rebels.
Instead of indicating their destination, the tracking systems that can be used to track the current positions of merchant ships increasingly contain messages such as “No contact with Israel”, “Armed guard on board” or “Chinese crew only”.
This is reported by the US news portal
The Daily Beast
.
While some crews have deactivated the sending of sea data, countless other ship crews are using the encrypted message tactic, the director general at the Institute of Export & International Trade, Marco Forgione, told the paper.
Attacks in the Red Sea: Sailors appeal to Houthi rebels from Yemen
For weeks, navigating the Red Sea has become a gauntlet.
In solidarity with Hamas in the Israel war, the Houthi rebels from Yemen are attacking international merchant ships in the strait - ostensibly to stop arms deliveries to Israel.
Western secret services assume that the terrorist militia is controlled and supported by Iran.
The regime in Tehran is supposed to supply the rockets for the attacks and provide the militia with the respective ship data.
The US has already forged an international coalition and, together with partners such as the UK, has deployed warships to the region to protect merchant shipping.
But despite direct attacks on Houthi positions in Yemen, skirmishes continue to occur on the high seas.
The shipping giants such as the Danish company Maersk therefore avoid the conflict region and, despite the higher transport costs, choose the route around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.
However, this is putting increasing pressure on smaller shipping companies.
Some of them continue through the Red Sea.
It remains to be seen to what extent their tactics of sending messages to the Houthis will work.
The rebels had previously announced that they would spare ships from friendly states.
This primarily meant Russian and Chinese freighters, as both states are on Iran's side and vice versa.
Houthi militia allegedly wants to spare German ships
On Monday (January 22nd), the Houthi militia surprisingly expanded the circle to include German ships.
Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti, Houthi governor of Dhamar province, gave an interview with the German news channel
RTL
/
ntv
and said
: “
Chinese and Russian ships are not in our sights.
They are not targets.
“Not even German ships,” said the Houthi official, who then added: “All ships in the world are safe, of course with the exception of those that are connected to Israel’s Zionist regime.”
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However, he did not provide a real reason why he now wanted to leave out German ships.
Because Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had made aid for Israel a reason of state.
Security experts also see the Houthi portrayal as a deliberate propaganda strategy.
“The Houthis calculate that a media campaign explaining their actions in the Red Sea will strengthen their legitimacy in Yemen, even in areas over which they do not rule,” said Jonas Ecke, a geopolitical analyst and humanitarian advisor Demand from
ntv
.
In any case, the shipping companies should not speculate on a complete about-face by the Houthis.
The terrorist militia also announced on Monday that it would intensify its actions in the Red Sea.
(
jkf
)