On a hot spring night in Athens, shortly before midnight, a senior executive at a Greek shipping company noticed an unusual email had arrived in his personal inbox.
The message, which was also sent to the manager’s business email address, warned that one of the company’s ships traveling through the Red Sea was at risk of being attacked by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi militia.
The message, written in English and reviewed by Reuters, said the Greek-managed ship had violated a transit ban imposed by the Houthis by docking at an Israeli port and “will be directed to any area by the Yemeni armed forces as they deem appropriate.” “Will be directly targeted.”
“You bear the responsibility and consequences of adding the ship to the sanctions list,” the email, signed by the Yemen-based Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC), said. The organization was set up in February to liaise between Houthi forces and commercial shipping operators. ,
The Houthis have launched nearly 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea since November in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s year-long war in Gaza. They sank two ships, captured another, and killed at least four sailors.
The email, obtained in late May, warned of “sanctions” for the company’s entire fleet if the ships “continued to violate sanctions norms and enter the ports of the usurped Israeli entity”.
The executive and the company declined to be named for security reasons.
The warning message was the first of more than a dozen dangerous emails sent to at least six Greek shipping companies since May amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, according to six industry sources with direct knowledge of the emails and According to two sources with indirect information.
Over the past year, the Houthis have been firing missiles, sending armed drones and launching explosives-laden boats at commercial vessels belonging to Israeli, US and UK entities.
The email campaign, which has not been previously reported, indicates that Houthi rebels are widening their net and targeting Greek merchant ships with little or no connection to Israel.
The threats marked the first time in recent months that the entire fleet has been targeted, increasing the threat to ships still attempting to transit the Red Sea.
“Your vessels have violated the decision of the Yemen Armed Forces,” read a separate email sent from the Yemeni government web domain to the first company weeks later and to another Greek shipping company in June, which also declined to be named. Was refused. “Therefore, penalties will be imposed on all ships of your company… Best regards, Yemen Navy.”
Yemen, which lies at the entrance to the Red Sea, has been embroiled in civil war for years. In 2014, the Houthis captured the capital, Sanaa, and ousted the internationally recognized government. In January, the United States put the Houthis back on its list of terrorist groups.
Contacted by Reuters, Houthi officials declined to confirm whether they had sent the email or provide any additional comment, saying only that it was classified military information.
Reuters could not determine whether the emails were also sent to other foreign shipping companies.
Greek-owned ships, which represent one of the world’s largest fleets, have been involved in about 30% of attacks by Houthi forces since early September, according to Lloyd’s List intelligence data, which it did not specify. Whether those ships had any connection with Israel or not.
In August, the Houthi militia – part of Iran’s Axis of Resistance alliance of anti-Israel irregular armed groups – attacked the Sounion tanker, setting it on fire for weeks before it was towed to a safe area.
The attacks have led many cargoes to take much longer routes around Africa. Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows traffic through the Suez Canal is set to decline from around 2,000 transits per month before November 2023 to around 800 in August.
Tensions in the Middle East reached a new peak on Tuesday when Iran attacked Israel with more than 180 missiles in retaliation for the killing of militant leaders in Lebanon on Friday, including Hezbollah leader Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah.
new phase
The EU’s naval force Aspides, which has helped more than 200 ships safely transit through the Red Sea, held a closed-door meeting with shipping companies in early September, according to a document reviewed by Reuters. The meeting confirmed the development of the Houthis’ strategy.
In the document shared with shipping companies, Aspides said the Houthis’ decision to warn the entire fleet marked the beginning of the “fourth phase” of their military campaign in the Red Sea.
Espides also urged shipowners to turn off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponders, which show a ship’s position and act as a navigational aid to nearby vessels, saying they should “turn it off. Will happen or will be shot”.
Espides said the Houthis’ missile attacks had 75% accuracy when targeting ships operating with AIS tracking systems. But according to the same briefing, 96% of attacks were missed when AIS was off.
“Aspides is aware of those emails,” its operational commander, Rear Admiral Vassilios Griparis, told Reuters, adding that any response should be carefully considered and companies are strongly advised to consider if any prior to sailing. If contacted, they should alert their security experts.
“Specifically, for the HOCC, the advice or guidance is not to respond to VHF calls and e-mails from the “Yemeni Navy” or the “Humanitarian Operations Command Center” (HOCC).”
The Houthis’ email campaign began in February with messages sent to shipowners, insurance companies and the main seafarers’ union, HOCC.
These initial emails, two of which were seen by Reuters, alerted the industry that the Houthis had imposed a Red Sea travel ban on some ships, although they did not explicitly warn companies of an impending attack.
Messages sent after May were more dangerous.
At least two Greek-run shipping companies that received email threats have decided to stop such voyages through the Red Sea, two sources with direct knowledge told Reuters, declining to identify the companies for security reasons. Have refused.
An official at a third shipping company, which also received a letter, said they had decided to end trade with Israel in order to be able to continue using the Red Sea route.
“If safe transit through the Red Sea cannot be guaranteed, companies have a duty to take action – even if it means delaying their delivery windows,” said the leading union organization for seafarers, the International Transport Workers Federation. said Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of. Who received an email from HOCC in February. “Sailors’ lives depend on it.”
The email campaign has raised concerns among shipping companies. Insurance costs for Western shipowners have already risen due to the Houthi attacks, with some insurers suspending cover altogether, sources told Reuters.
Greece-based Conbulk Shipmanagement Corporation halted Red Sea voyages after its ship MV Groton was attacked twice in August.
“No (Conbulk) ships are trading in the Red Sea. This is primarily concerned with the safety of the crew once the crew is in danger,” Dimitris Dalakouras, CEO of Conbulk Shipmanagement, said at the Capital Link shipping conference in London. If it falls in, all discussion stops.” September 10.
Torben Köln, managing director of German-based container shipping group Leonhardt & Blumberg, said the Red Sea and the wide Gulf of Aden are “no-go” areas for his fleet.
Contacted by Reuters, the companies did not respond to a request for comment on whether they were targeted by the Houthi email campaign.
Some companies continue to transit the Red Sea due to binding long-term agreements with charterers or due to the need to move cargo to that particular region. The Red Sea remains the fastest way to deliver goods to consumers in Europe and Asia.
The Houthis have not stopped all traffic and most Chinese and Russian-owned ships – which they do not consider affiliated with Israel – are able to proceed unhindered with low insurance costs.
According to an audio recording, “We are re-assuring ships of companies that have no ties to the Israeli enemy that they are safe and that they have freedom (of movement) and to keep (AIS devices) on at all times ” A Houthi message broadcast to ships in the Red Sea in September was shared with Reuters.
“Thank you for your cooperation. Out.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
