Houthi Minister Requires Ships to Obtain Permit Before Entering Yemeni Waters

The recent attacks by Houthi militants on international commercial vessels in the Red Sea and adjacent maritime zones have heightened security concerns for shipping companies using this route.

Ships entering Yemeni waters are must obtain a permit from the nation's Maritime Affairs Authority, according to Misfer Al-Numair, the Houthi Telecomms Minister.

In a statement made on Monday to a local media outlet, Al-Numair emphasized that this requirement is essential for guaranteeing the safe passage of ships through Yemeni maritime territory, extending up to the midpoint of the 20-kilometer-wide Bab al-Mandab Strait, which serves as the gateway to the Suez Canal. Moreover, this gateway is responsible for handling 15 percent of the world's shipping traffic.

Since mid-November, Houthi militants have been targeting international commercial vessels linked to Israel with missiles almost daily in the Gulf of Aden. They claim solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel's offensive in Gaza. These incidents have forced shipping companies to take costly detours around the region of South Africa, raising concerns about potential destabilization in the Middle East. In response, the United States and Britain have launched airstrikes on Houthi targets.

At the TPM24 container shipping conference in Long Beach, California, former US Defense Secretary Robert Gates alluded to the potential of a ceasefire in the ongoing Israeli offensive in Gaza. But he was skeptical about the Houthis halting their attacks on vessels, suggesting that the group could seek to control maritime traffic in the Red Sea indefinitely.

On Monday, HGC Global Communications, a Hong Kong-based internet service company, reported that four submarine cables, Asia-Africa-Europe 1, the Europe India Gateway, Seacom, and TGN-Gulf, sustained damage last week in the Red Sea, but didn't specify the cause. According to HGC's estimates, the damage had impacted 25 percent of the data traffic passing through the depths of the Red Sea, but a plan was being hammered out to divert the affected data streams.

Meanwhile, Al-Numair's ministry attributed any cable damage to US and British attacks.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported an incident where a ship was damaged by two explosions southeast of Aden without casualties, and the vessel continued on its course to its destined port.