Important "inflection point" in the Red Sea crisis, the Houthis announced detailed measures of passage

On December 27, 2023, Maersk announced the gradual resumption of flights to the Red Sea and listed 59 specific vessels for resumption; on December 31, the Maersk Hangzhou ship was attacked; on January 2, 2024, Maersk announced the indefinite suspension of flights to the Red Sea; on January 3, the U.S. joined with many other countries in delivering an "ultimatum" to the Houthis .....

Just as the world is wondering if the Bab-el-Mandeb is dead? While the world is watching to see if the Bab-el-Mandeb is dead, and whether detouring around the Cape of Good Hope will become the new normal, the Red Sea crisis has reached an "important inflection point"!

The latest news: in order to ease tensions in the Red Sea, Yemen's Houthi forces recently put forward a proposal to avoid the "militarization of the Red Sea" and announced specific measures.

According to the Yemeni news agency (SABA) reported that Yemeni Houthi senior leader Mohammed Ali Houthi January 7 issued a statement that as long as the ships through the Red Sea declared that "there is no relationship with Israel", will not be attacked.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi reiterated that the Yemeni Houthis' actions in the Red Sea region are aimed at stopping Israeli aggression and forcing Israel to lift its siege on the Gaza Strip. He criticized that "the United States, Britain or anyone else who prevents us from intercepting Israeli ships is carrying out Israeli demands and sheltering Israeli crimes."

What's next for global merchant ships to safely pass through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait? The Houthis have not only given specific rules of operation, but even concrete examples!

Senior Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi proposed to international shipping companies that every ship passing through the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandeb or the Arabian Sea could declare in advance that it has "no relations with Israel", "a step that does not require the militarization of the Red Sea and does not harm international shipping.

With this step, ships can continue to navigate safely without any obstacles, avoiding the hassle of rounding the Cape of Good Hope."

Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi also took to the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to give an example of how to state that there is "no Israeli connection", citing how a container ship with a capacity of 3,429 TEUs and the name of the vessel XIN H* **, followed the above and passed through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait without any problems

Voyage data provided by ShipNews.com shows that the vessel "XIN H* **", in the case of Mohammed Ali Al Houthi, has indeed safely passed through the Red Sea and the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb and is en route to its next port, Taicang, China.

But while announcing the rules of passage, senior Houthi leader Mohammed Ali al-Houthi also warned that if a ship issued a "false notification" that it was going to an Israeli-controlled port after passing through the Red Sea, it would be "blacklisted" by Yemen's Houthis and seized the next time it attempted to pass through the Red Sea.

Since the outbreak of the current round of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Houthis of Yemen have frequently launched attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea to show their support for the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). The United States, the United Kingdom, France and other countries announced in December the formation of a multinational maritime coalition called the "Guardians of Prosperity" to deter them and protect ships from attacks.

On January 3, local time, 14 countries led by the United States issued a joint statement, issued an "ultimatum" to the Houthis, demanding that the Houthis stop their maritime attacks and release the seized ships and crews. The statement warned that if the Houthis continue to "threaten lives, the global economy, and the free flow of commerce in key shipping lanes", they will "bear responsibility" for the consequences.

According to Arab News, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) reported on June 6 that the guided-missile destroyer USS Raboun had shot down a drone that had taken off from an area controlled by the Houthis that morning.

In response to the "ultimatum" issued by 14 countries, Yemeni Houthi spokesman Daif Ala al-Shami said on the 4th that the so-called convoy coalition formed by the United States is trying to cover up Israeli crimes, and its purpose is to protect Israeli ships and Israeli crimes, not to protect the safety of navigation in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, as the United States and the Western countries claimed. safety of navigation.

He emphasized that the Houthis would only attack Israeli ships or ships heading to Israeli controlled ports and that "navigation in the Red Sea area is safe."

Al Jazeera noted that as a result of heightened tensions in the Red Sea, ships of the world's major international shipping companies have decided to avoid the Red Sea and detour from the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa. This shipping route is much longer and more costly, adding about nine days to the sea shipping journey and at least 15 per cent to costs

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