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Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Red Sea passage remains a no-go for shipping despite US action
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier in the Red Sea, during operations against the Houthi militia in Yemen, on Feb 21, 2024. PHOTO: KENNY HOLSTON/NYTIMES The largest commercial shipping companies continue to avoid the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, despite a recent ceasefire agreement between the United States and Houthis intended to make the trade lanes safer. The ceasefire, which began May 6, ended a US campaign that involved more than 1,100 strikes against the Houthis in Yemen and became a source of embarrassment for the Trump administration after group chats about the strikes inadvertently became public. The Pentagon had planned on a monthslong bombardment, but President Donald Trump ended it after about 50 days. 'If the intention was to restore freedom of navigation, which is what they stated it was, then the results speak for themselves: The shipping industry has not gone back,' said Mr Richard Meade, editor-in-chief of Lloyd's List, a shipping publication. Ship traffic through the Red Sea is down by around three-fifths since 2023 when the Houthis started targeting ships there in solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip, Mr Meade said. Fearing that their vessels would be struck, big shipping companies avoided the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, taking a much longer route around the southern tip of Africa to travel between Asia and Europe. The Houthis have said they are still at war with Israel and will attack vessels bound for the country. And though the Houthis have not attacked a commercial vessel since December, shipping companies say they worry that their vessels may be hit, deliberately or mistakenly, and have no plans to sail the southern part of the Red Sea anytime soon. 'We're pretty far from the threshold,' said Mr Vincent Clerc, the CEO of A.P. Moller-Maersk, a large shipping line based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Speaking soon after the ceasefire in May, he said the Red Sea would have to remain safe for the foreseeable future before the company's vessels returned. Shipping executives said they also feared a severe disruption to their networks if they returned to the Red Sea but suddenly had to pull out of the region because attacks resumed. When Mr Trump started the military engagement with the Houthis in March, he said their attacks on shipping had cost the global economy 'BILLIONS of dollars.' Commenting on the ceasefire, he said, 'They say they will not be blowing up ships anymore.' Oman brokered the ceasefire between the Houthis and the United States. Describing the truce, Oman's foreign minister said that 'neither side will target the other, including American vessels, in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait, ensuring freedom of navigation and the smooth flow of international commercial shipping.' But maritime analysts said it was unclear whether the ceasefire applied just to American ships. 'Was this only an agreement between the Americans and the Houthis not to fire at each other's military capabilities, or was this something that did indeed also cover the merchant ships going through the area?' asked Mr Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer at BIMCO, a shipping trade group. Nor did the ceasefire appear to involve the Houthis' conflict with Israel. The Houthis expanded their attacks on Israel in May to include vessels at or on their way to Haifa, an Israeli port, noted Mr Jack Kennedy, head of country risk for the Middle East and North Africa at S&P Global Market Intelligence. And while the Houthis are unlikely to attack American vessels during their ceasefire, 'the unclear designations around a vessel or company's relationship to Israel and Israeli ports, and uncertainties around Houthi targeting accuracy, mean there is a severe risk to ships transiting the Red Sea,' Mr Kennedy said. In an email to The New York Times, the Houthi-linked group that communicates with the shipping industry said that 'no guarantees can be provided to shipping companies.' The group added: 'Sanctions and prohibitions are limited exclusively to companies and vessels affiliated with or linked to' Israel. The group also said the Yemeni armed forces' actions 'are carried out through a precise mechanism designed to prevent mistakes.' The White House and the Pentagon did not comment. Even though the route around Africa uses more fuel and crews are at sea for longer, shipping operations have adapted to the detour. 'If it were really a pain, if this new route was really imposing costs, I think you might see more countries willing to take the risk,' said Ms Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at Defense Priorities, a research institute that favours restraint in foreign policy. In fact, traveling longer distances has allowed the shipping lines to deploy the glut of new ships that they ordered during the pandemic trade boom. Before the Red Sea attacks, the supply of new vessels threatened to depress shipping rates and the earnings of shipping companies. 'Frankly, this disruption, this long way round, has allowed the industry to a certain extent to defy economic gravity,' Mr Meade said. Still, one large shipping company, CMA CGM, based in Marseilles, France, has been sending a small number of vessels through the Red Sea. Ship tracking sites showed that, in recent weeks, at least five had been in the southern part of the Red Sea, near Yemen. But CMA CGM said in a statement that it did 'not plan to resume transits through the Suez Canal on a large scale in the short term, unless security conditions allow it.' The rerouting of vessels away from the Red Sea has deprived Egypt of billions of much-needed dollars in toll revenue from the Suez Canal. To coax shipping companies back, the canal is offering large vessels a 15 per cent discount to go through the canal. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Boston Globe
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Another Navy jet falls into sea, marking fourth major mishap in months
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The Truman also was involved in a collision in the Mediterranean Sea in February, prompting the service to fire its commanding officer, Navy Captain Dave Snowden. He was replaced by Navy Captain Christopher Hill, who had just completed the deployment of another carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. Advertisement While the incidents have not killed any service members, they have raised questions about the strain placed on the aircraft carrier's crew and its ability to carry out a grueling deployment in which troops have clashed for months with Houthi militants in Yemen, who have repeatedly launched drone and missile attacks against vessels in the region. The mishaps have the attention of senior US military leaders, a defense official familiar with the discussion said Tuesday night, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Advertisement Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has twice extended the aircraft carrier's deployment since it left its home in Virginia last September, most recently last week, to ensure that the Navy had two aircraft carriers on hand to battle the Houthis. Since March, the carrier has been on the front lines of a full-scale assault that President Trump ordered against the Yemen-based militant group in response to its attacks on commercial and military vessels dating to late 2023. The Biden administration began launching strikes against the militants early in 2024 after the group refused to stop waging attacks. The Trump administration has cast that effort as weak and said it wanted to be more aggressive. It has hit more than 1,000 Houthi targets in Yemen in less than two months, defense officials have said. Trump administration officials have touted the strike campaign as a success story, while releasing few details about it. On Tuesday, Trump said he was calling off the strikes after the Houthis promised to stop attacking ships. Administration officials linked the decision to an announcement by Omani officials that a cease-fire had been reached. Investigations of the fighter jet shoot-down and the ship collision are under review by senior defense officials, meaning the results could be released soon, the defense official said Tuesday. The two more recent mishaps involving the fighter jets also will be scrutinized, he said. Advertisement Another aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, deployed from San Diego in November. It has been at sea in the region for a couple of weeks, mostly holding in the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, defense officials have said.
Boston Globe
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Hegseth keeps 2 aircraft carriers in Middle East for another week for battle with Yemen's Houthis
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The officials spoke Friday on the condition of anonymity to discuss military operations. Advertisement The U.S. has increased its attacks on the Houthis, launching daily strikes since March 15, when President Donald Trump ordered a new, expanded campaign. He promised to use 'overwhelming lethal force' until the Houthis stop their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a vital trade corridor. According to Central Command, the U.S. has been waging an 'intense and sustained campaign' against the Houthis. In a statement over the weekend, the command said the U.S. has struck more than 1,000 targets in Yemen since Operation Rough Rider began. It hasn't provided details on the targets or how the data is compiled. Advertisement It has been rare in recent years for the U.S. to have two aircraft carriers in the Middle East at the same time. Navy leaders have generally been opposed to the idea because it disrupts ship maintenance schedules and delays time at home for sailors strained by the unusually high combat tempo. If there are no additional extensions and the Truman and its warships leave the region next week, those sailors could be back home by next month. Last year, the Biden administration ordered the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier to remain in the Red Sea for an extended time as U.S. warships waged the most intense running sea battle since World War II. Prior to that, it had been years since the U.S. had committed that much warship power to the Middle East. The Houthis had been waging persistent missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group's leadership has described as an effort to end Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. From November 2023 until this January, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually. The group paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. In another action, Hegseth on Friday ordered the Defense Department to produce a new national defense strategy and gave leaders until the end of August to have a final draft. The strategy is the main blueprint that lays out the department's priorities as it moves to confront national security threats around the world. Advertisement It will be Hegseth's opportunity to highlight what he wants the U.S. military to focus on for the next several years and how the Pentagon will shift toward Trump's 'America First' doctrine. The draft also will have to reflect the impact of Hegseth's sweeping personnel cuts and decisions to merge a number of military commands.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Destroyer USS Gravely departs Yorktown to reinforce southern U.S. border
The USS Gravely left the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown on Saturday on a deployment to the Gulf Coast to buttress security at the southern border. The deployment is part of the military's efforts to comply with President Donald Trump's executive order regarding border security. The USS Gravely is a Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer that was deployed to the Red Sea along with the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2023 as part of a strike group that engaged with the Houthi rebels. 'Gravely's sea-going capacity improves our ability to protect the United States' territorial integrity, sovereignty, and security,' said Gen. Gregory Guillot, commander, U.S. Northern Command, in a news release. There will be a U.S. Coast Guard law enforcement detachment aboard the Gravely, according to the Navy. The detachment's duties have traditionally included counter-piracy, military combat operations, addressing immigration, counter terrorism and homeland security. Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806,
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Navy relieves commander of aircraft carrier that collided with ship near Suez Canal
The US Navy has relieved the commander of an aircraft carrier that collided with a mercantile vessel in the Mediterranean Sea near the entrance to the Suez Canal. Capt. Dave Snowden was serving as the commander of the USS Harry S. Truman when it collided with a ship near Port Said, Egypt, which is the northern end of the Suez Canal. Snowden had been the commander of the Truman since December 2023. The carrier had been operating in the Middle East for the past several months before sailing to Souda Bay, Greece. 'The U.S. Navy holds commanding officers to the highest standard and takes action to hold them accountable when those standards are not met,' the Navy said in a statement. The collision occurred last week. It's still not clear what caused the collision, but it did not cause any flooding or injuries to personnel on board the carrier or damage to aircraft. The carrier returned to port in Greece for emergency repairs to the ship's starboard side. The collision damaged the exterior walls of two storages rooms, a maintenance space, and the outside of the ship sustained damage. Capt. Christopher Hill, the commander of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier, will temporarily serve as commander of the USS Harry S. Truman. Hill was in charge of the Eisenhower during an extended deployment to the Middle East which saw the carrier and its strike group carry out offensive and defense operations against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
