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Telegraph
a day ago
- Telegraph
Iran's multi-front war against the West is going badly – but not in this one theatre
And now the Houthis and their smuggler allies are complicating this further by fitting the wrong sort of AIS transponder. Vessels over 300 tons should have a full Class A transponder, but smuggling ships are fitting themselves with Class B transponders intended for yachts and small craft. These don't require as much data to be transmitted. Class B kit does transmit a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number which is supposed to be unique to each vessel but this also can be falsified. A Lloyds List investigation has shown that one vessel in particular, the Almas, had both Class A and Class B systems fitted and was toggling between the two. This is hardly sophisticated electronic warfare but it's definitely deceptive and, a lot of the time, effective given the sheer volume of ships at sea at any one time. Even calling in to Djibouti and being inspected prior by the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism for Yemen (UNVIM) is no guarantee of righteousness. Vessels have done this and then met up with any one of a thousand non-AIS-fitted dhows between there and their destination port in Yemen and transferred systems at sea. It's a needle-in-a-haystack job that a small UNVIM team with no enforcement capability would struggle to keep up with even before the needles start making themselves look like hay. And this is only one route in. There are two solutions that will help with this. First is to reinvigorate an international inspection regime off the ports like the one Saudi Arabia had in place prior to 2022. As with dark fleet ships and those cutting cables, you still need something of a legal mechanism in place to board and detain them, but unless we get that in place, we will forever be playing catch up. The ships doing this will need to be defended and armed. I'm not talking about a US Arleigh Burke class destroyer level, but something with teeth. Of note, during the last two attacks, there were no warships in the area to either intercept the attacks or assist afterwards. All allied navies now, even the US Navy, cannot spare resources for 'just in case' tasks and the supposed ceasefire saw everyone move away from the area. Ultimately it comes down to international cooperation and funding and what's clear in this case, is that both are insufficient. The second solution is to stop trusting AIS as providing accurate records of where a ship has been. It can't do that. It was designed primarily as an anti-collision system, informing nearby vessels of a ship's presence and its course and speed, and for that it works pretty well. But twenty years ago its lack of accuracy made it inadmissible in UK courts even for fishery protection cases. Today it has shown itself as vulnerable to jamming, spoofing and general misuse as you'd expect from a system designed so long ago and never intended to be used for identification and tracking over entire journeys. What's frustrating is that there are many better sources of data, and sometimes these are used, but invariably, due to the diversity of sources they use, the end product is classified and cannot be publicly revealed. This needs to be rectified or weapons smugglers, sanctions busters and cable cutters will continue to exploit the holes in the current system. That brings us back to international cooperation and funding, which itself will be determined by priorities. You can cost what closing the Bab El Mandeb means for shippers and consumers, and for many classes of goods we are now paying that price and have been for a long time. You can't cost the principle of allowing a major chokepoint to remain closed. It's not all doom and gloom. Just this week, the Yemeni National Resistance Forces (NRF), led by General Tareq Saleh and loyal to the internationally recognised Yemeni government which continues to resist the Houthis, conducted what US Central Command described as 'the largest seizure of Iranian advanced conventional weapons in their history.' Some 750 tons of munitions and military hardware, much of which sat at the higher end of the capability spectrum outlined above, has now been impounded. Much will be learned from this haul, as well as denying its use to the Houthis. Ultimately, what is needed here is what has been needed all along – a comprehensive solution. I've outlined just two parts of this – more aggressive interdiction and more accurate vessel monitoring, but these need to be merged with ongoing intelligence gathering, diplomatic efforts with surrounding countries and an economic squeeze on the facilitators and beneficiaries, of which there are many. Only then will we be sure that a ceasefire isn't just an opportunity for one side to rearm.
New York Times
05-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Red Sea Passage Remains a No-Go for Shipping Despite U.S. Action
The largest commercial shipping companies continue to avoid the Red Sea and Suez Canal, despite a recent cease-fire agreement between the United States and Houthis intended to make the trade lanes safer. The cease-fire, which began May 6, ended a U.S. campaign that involved over 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 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 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 Gaza, 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 Vincent Clerc, the chief executive of A.P. Moller-Maersk, a large shipping line based in Copenhagen. Speaking soon after the cease-fire in May, he said the Red Sea would have to remain safe for the foreseeable future before the company's vessels returned. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
BBC News
12-04-2025
- BBC News
Vintage Margate seafront telescope on display at hotel
A seafront telescope which is almost 100 years old has become the latest artefact to go on display at a hotel in east Kent. Fred Shelley used his telescope to log ships passing by Margate from the 1930s to the 1960s. It has now gone on show at the Walpole Bay Hotel museum in Cliftonville close to the clifftop spot where it used to stand. Jane Bishop, hotel owner, said she was "honoured" to put the item on display in her reception. She said: "Fred's relatives came and stayed at the hotel and decided the telescope should form part of the museum's collection of artefacts." Felicity Walker, Mr Shelley's great niece, said: "Fred set up the Walpole Bay Shipping Spotters Club in the 1930s to encourage boys into a seafaring career."He charged holidaymakers a small fee to look at the ships whilst he told them about them. Ms Walker said: "By looking up Lloyds List every day he would know what ships were going around the foreland."He was able to inform viewers about the country of origin and goods on board."Mr Walker, a trained watch and clock repairer, lived into his 90s. The telescope is the latest of over 1,000 artefacts placed around the corridors of the free on display include old typewriters, vacuum cleaners, clothing and vintage milk bottles. Ms Bishop said: "Our museum is here to preserve the past and allow our visitors to reminisce."It brings back memories of the olden days, but is also a great educational tool for children."
