Well, the situation in the Red Sea doesn’t appear to be getting better.
A missile attack launched by Houthi rebels struck a UK cargo ship, forcing the crew to abandon the ship. The strike was the most damaging attack since the conflict started in the region.
“Are they stopping the Houthis? No,” Biden said on February 15, 2024, about the airstrikes conducted by the USA and its allies. “Are they going to continue? Yes.”
Sailing un the flag of Belize, the UK-registered vessel the Rubymar was carrying fertilizer through the strait of Bab el-Mandeb when two missiles struck it.
The ship’s security company said that the 20-member crew abandoned the ship after an explosion ripped through the boat causing it to list as well as take on water.
From the New York Post:
The crew disembarked from their listing ship — has previously been used as a grain carrier for Ukraine — onto a merchant vessel in the area and were taken to a nearby port, the New York Times said. The vessel was carrying volatile fertilizer at the time it was struck Monday, the BBC said.
The Houthis have been hammering maritime traffic in the region since fellow Palestinian terror group Hamas launched its Oct. 7 massacre in Israel, sparking the Gaza war, but have rarely caused such damage.
We previously reported that other shipping companies are changing their routes to deal with the attacks, and coupled with the issues at the Panama Canal, it’s the start of a supply chain nightmare.
Due to a drought draft restrictions have a cascading effect on global shipping. Vessels either have to reduce their cargo load, which leads to inefficiency and increased costs, or seek alternative routes, such as the longer and more expensive journey around the southern tip of South America.
Add that to the threat of ships sinking in the Red Sea; things could begin to get really dicey.