Israel Orders Ports To Hide Online Shipping Schedules Due To Yemen Threat

Via The Cradle,

Israel’s National Security Council issued an “urgent instruction” on Tuesday ordering Israeli ports to remove information on the arrival and departures of ships from their websites, Globes newspaper reported. The directive comes in light of the recent Yemeni attacks on Israeli shipping and vessels headed towards Israel. 

“As soon as it becomes clear in the future that there is no longer a problem that must be taken into account, it will be possible to return to the previous situation immediately,” Israeli officials told Globes.

Ashdod Port, image via Port Technology International

The National Security Council’s instruction came the same day as a Yemeni naval attack, carried out by Yemen-based Houthis, on a Norweigan vessel north of the Bab al-Mandab strait. The ship was carrying oil and was en route to Italy. 

However, the Norwegian ship was scheduled to dock in Israel’s Ashdod port next month. “Before attacking the STRINDA, the Houthis would have been able to discover that the Norwegian ship was calling at Ashdod through a simple Internet search,” Globes writes. 

Ansarallah and Yemen’s Armed Forces have launched numerous drone and missile attacks on Israeli targets since the Gaza-Israel war began in October, particularly on the southern-occupied port of Eilat. 

As part of its operations in solidarity with Palestine, Sanaa’s forces have declared war on Israeli shipping in the Red and Arabian seas and elsewhere. Since November 19, Yemen has seized one Israeli-linked ship and has launched drone attacks against at least two others.

The missile attack on the Norweigan STRINDA ship comes days after Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Yahya Saree announced that Yemen will prevent the passage of any vessel headed for Israel in the Red and Arabian Seas if food and medicine do not enter the Gaza Strip. 

The announcement was a response to the US veto of a UN resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. As a result of Yemen’s naval operations, shipping companies, including Israeli firm Zim and others, have resorted to price hikes and costly reroutes around Africa. 

Zim’s new ZMP route, which connects ports in China with Turkiye, recently said that its 12 vessels will not pass through the Red Sea. The cost of shipping in the Red Sea, in general, is on the rise due to Yemen’s maritime campaign, industry sources told Reuters this week. 

Western officials are privately telling members of the shipping industry to continue to expect Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Seahttps://t.co/XwgLV11dS3

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) December 12, 2023

War risk premiums – required to be paid by vessels sailing through high-risk areas – have risen this week to up to 0.2 percent of the value of a ship, from 0.007 percent last week, market estimates showed, translating “into tens of thousands of dollars of additional costs for a seven-day voyage,” Reuters reported.

“These attacks have the potential to become far more of a global strategic economic threat than simply a regional geopolitical one,” said Duncan Potts, a former vice admiral in the British navy.