Local Editor
While an attack specifically targeting commercial shipping is considered unlikely, the threat of a merchant vessel being caught up as "collateral damage" in the escalating Yemeni conflict is real.
That’s the sobering analysis from Dryad Maritime following two recent attacks on shipping in the Bab al Mandeb Strait, a 30km wide chokepoint at the foot of the Red Sea bordered by Yemen and Horn of Africa nations Djibouti and Eritrea.
The Portsmouth-based maritime security firm has urged a "heightened state of alert" following the latest incident involving the U.S. Navy’s USS Mason which detected two inbound missiles within a 60 minute period around 1900 (local time) on October 9. The missiles, which the Pentagon says were fired from within Yemen, impacted the water before reaching the guided missile destroyer.
Houthi Ansarullah revolutionaries have denied any involvement in the failed attack but have been linked to an October 1 missile strike that left a UAE high-speed catamaran, near Yemen’s Red Sea Port of Mokha, severely damaged.
While the likelihood of a deliberate attack on commercial shipping remains "low", Dryad Maritime says that doesn’t mean merchant vessels are immune from being hit by a missile intended for a coalition warship.
With more than 500 years of collective naval maritime experience, Dryad Maritime advises mariners on threats to safe navigation including piracy, environmental, commercial and regulatory "pressure".
Tension in Yemen’s civil war has heightened following a Saudi-led airstrike on a funeral in Yemen’s capital on Saturday that killed more than 140 people and wounded 525.
Saudi Arabia began its deadly campaign against Yemen in late March 2015. The strikes were meant to undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement and restore power to fugitive former president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi.
About 10,000 people have been killed and over 16,000 injured since Riyadh launched the airstrikes. The Saudi aggression has also taken a heavy toll on Yemen’s facilities and infrastructure.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
