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As the Houthis increase attacks on ships in the Red Sea, says Vincent Groizeleau
Published on December 18, 2023 9:17 p.m
Reading time: 4 minutes
The Houthis seized the Galaxy Leader cargo ship transiting the Red Sea after threatening to target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies. Photo published on November 20, 2023 by Houthi Media Center. (HOUTHIS MEDIA CENTER / HANDOUT / MAXPPP)
“We are touching the backbone of globalization,” explains Vincent Groizeleau, maritime expert and editor-in-chief of the Mer et Marine website, following the attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen on Monday, December 18. They claim to have carried out attacks on two Norwegian ships “connected to Israel.” The oil company BP is suspending all transit across the Red Sea. Several transport giants have also announced that they will interrupt transit via this passage: for example the French shipping company CMA-CGM or the Taiwanese Evergreen.
Franceinfo: Is the Red Sea an important passage in global maritime traffic?
Vincent Groizeleau: Important and absolutely strategic! We must understand that we are touching the backbone of globalization here. Approximately 90% of the world's goods are transported by sea. And the Red Sea is one of the main routes, especially for connections between Asia and Europe. To give you an idea, 26 million containers are transported between Asia and Europe every year. And in these goods we find what we find in your supermarket, home improvement supplies, household appliances, Christmas toys, components that European industry needs, etc. And so these boats go faster, and when they go through the Indian Ocean and then straight back into the Mediterranean and then reach Northern Europe through the Suez Canal and thus through the Red Sea. And today this route is actually completely interrupted, leaving shipowners with no choice but to switch to a longer route around Africa. And that will inevitably have an impact, because there are thousands of additional kilometers. There may be delays of almost two more weeks, which will impact supply chains, particularly for containers. And we have tankers there as of today.
We therefore understand the strategic point of the place. Is it impossible to protect him?
No, we have to protect him. But for that you need resources. The Americans are working with other Westerners to build a protection system in the Red Sea. There will certainly be announcements on this topic soon. But you need boats for that. The Americans have them, but not for everything. There is one French naval boat, but the French Navy has a handful of frigates to complete all of its missions. Today it is not possible to send half a dozen to the Red Sea to protect maritime traffic because there are not enough of them. So we have to rely on the Americans, the British, the French and also on the neighboring countries who have a great interest in protecting this maritime traffic; I am thinking in particular of Egypt. We will have to use many boats to protect all these ships. To give you an example, just for Saturday [16 décembre], a single American destroyer, intercepted fourteen drones and missiles. It's huge! This increase in the number of attacks requires significant resources.
Is it technically complicated to change the route of a whole series of ships?
This is not a problem for ships. This is the advantage of the ship: it can go wherever it wants and enjoy the seas and the freedom of navigation. The difficulty lies in logistics. These are the ports that need to reconfigure to receive the goods. And then all the subsequent transport, so the trucks, the trains, the boats and the river planes that evacuate all of this goods. And we actually have a few logistically complicated weeks ahead of us.
Has this, this form of piracy, these terrorist attacks, already happened on certain ships?
There were already attacks in 2016 in particular, and the Houthis made headlines with attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The Americans responded by firing cruise missiles at radar positions on the Yemeni coast, in areas controlled by the weapons. At the moment, the Americans have not yet responded, as the situation is very delicate and the aim of the game is not to escalate, especially since the Houthis showed us at the end of November that they are capable of sending missiles and drones to the country Indian Ocean, very, very far away. The idea is not that the Indian Ocean is on fire everywhere and there are damaged boats everywhere. That's why everyone goes there with a lot of sensitivity. The last time there was a very big problem in this sector was the Iran-Iraq war. By the late 1980s, much of the French navy had been deployed, particularly to protect oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz against Iran, so that they could pass safely and not be attacked.