Although Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced plans Sunday to cease attacks in the Red Sea against “non-Israeli” vessels, Drewry shipping consultancy says it does not anticipate a rapid return of container lines to Suez Canal transits.
The rebel group’s “Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center” issued a statement indicating it is lifting its attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, following last week’s ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
“This is clearly a positive development, but we should not expect to see container lines rush to return to the Suez Canal,” states Drewry. The shipping consultancy estimates that carriers will likely take months rather than weeks to resume normal Suez operations as they will seek absolute certainty that the threat has been eliminated.
Adding further uncertainty to the global maritime industry is the big tariff agenda promised by Donald Trump inaugurated as President of the United States today. As Drewry notes, “The next few weeks and months will go a long way to deciding how volatile 2025 will be.”
The center said it would not attack most categories of ships, including those bound for Israel. But fully-owned Israeli vessels are “prohibited from transiting the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean at present.”
The group warned that it could resume hostilities against commercial shipping if U.S. and UK forces strike Yemen again. If that occurs, the group said it could resume its attacks on specifically American and British shipping.
Since November 2023, more than 100 vessel vessels have been attacked by Houthi rebels. Two ships have been sunk, four seafarers have been killed while 25 crew members from the car carrier Galaxy Leader remain hostages.
(Photo from Houthi Military Media)