Red Sea marine traffic up 60% after Houthis narrowed targets, EU commander says
MADRID - Red Sea marine traffic has increased by 60% to 36-37 ships a day since August 2024, but is still short of volumes seen before Yemen's Houthis began attacking ships in the region, according to the commander of the EU's Aspides naval mission.
The number of merchant ships using the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait increased after missile and drone attacks by the Houthis slowed and the U.S. and the rebel group signed a ceasefire deal, Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis said in an interview in Madrid.
But shipping traffic, which reached a low of 20-23 ships daily in August last year, is still short of an average of 72-75 ships a day seen before the Houthis began attacks in the Red Sea in November in 2023 in support of Palestinians over Israel's war in Gaza, said Gryparis.
The mission, which was established to safeguard navigation in the strategic trade route linking the Mediterranean with the Gulf of Asia through the Suez Canal, was extended in February when it was also tasked with tracking illegal arms shipments and monitoring vessels carrying sanctioned Russian oil.
The last attack on a merchant ship took place in November 2024 and the Houthis have also narrowed their objectives, saying their targets are Israeli ships and ships that have a connection with Israel or have docked at an Israeli port, Gryparis said.
"If you have a vessel that does not correspond to this criteria... there is a huge possibility - more than 99% - that you're not going to be targeted by the Houthis," Gryparis said.
Still, Gryparis said he could not guarantee that merchant ships won't be attacked.
Some companies have been deterred from using the route because of the mission's lack of ships, which can cause delays of as much as a week for those seeking to be escorted through the area, he said.
He said the mission has between two and three ships operating at one time and has requested the EU provide it with 10 ships to increase its capacity for protection.
The mission has provided close protection to 476 ships, shot down 18 drones, destroyed two remote-controlled boats used to attack ships and intercepted four ballistic missiles, he said. REUTERS
Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Russian attacks kill one in eastern Ukraine, one in the north
Russian attacks kill one in eastern Ukraine, one in the north Russian strikes on Saturday on key towns in Donetsk region on the eastern front of the war in Ukraine killed at least one person while another died in a drone attack in the north near the Russian border, officials said. The Russian military said its forces had captured another village in its slow advance westward through Donetsk region. And reports from Kharkiv region in the northeast suggested Russian troops were closing in on the city of Kupiansk. Russian forces struck Sloviansk and Kramatorsk -- two cities that Moscow will target as its forces press on with their westward drive. Both towns have come under frequent attack since the Russian invasion of its neighbour in February 2022. Donetsk region Governor Vadym Filashkin said one person died and three were injured in Sloviansk, with pictures posted online showing buildings reduced to rubble. He said four multi-storey dwellings and 32 private homes had suffered damage. In Kramatorsk, pictures posted by the city council showed heavy damage to part of an apartment building. Officials said at least one person was trapped under rubble and a number of other residents were injured. A mass drone attack on the town of Nizhyn near the Russian border killed one person and damaged local infrastructure. The Russian Defence Ministry said its forces had seized the village of Zaporizhzhia, southwest of Pokrovsk, where Ukrainian forces have been holding back Russian attacks for months. Zaporizhzhia village is distinct from the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, the regional centre and large industrial hub located some 160 km (90 miles) to the southeast. The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces on Friday listed the village as one of several where Kyiv's forces had repelled Russian attacks. On Friday, the Russian Defence Ministry said it had captured the village of Moskovka, just outside the city of Kupiansk, also the target of repeated Russian attacks in recent months. Both Russian and Ukrainian military bloggers have reported an upswing in fighting around Kupiansk this past week. The town was first occupied by Russian forces in the first weeks of the 2022 invasion, but recaptured by Ukrainian troops later in the year in a lightning counter-offensive. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
an hour ago
- Straits Times
Iran threatens ‘more devastating' response to Israel's attacks
Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, amid a fresh barrage of Iranian missile attacks on June 21. PHOTO: AFP TEHRAN - Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on June 21 of a 'more devastating' retaliation should Israel's nine-day bombing campaign continue, saying the Islamic republic would not halt its nuclear programme 'under any circumstances'. Israel said on June 21 it had killed three more Iranian commanders in its unprecedented offensive, and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar claimed Tehran's alleged progress towards a nuclear weapon had been set back by two years. 'We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat,' Mr Saar told the German newspaper Bild, adding that Israel would keep up its onslaught. Israel and Iran have traded wave after wave of devastating strikes since Israel launched its aerial campaign on June 13, saying Tehran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. On June 21, Israel said it had attacked Iran's Isfahan nuclear site for a second time, with the UN nuclear watchdog reporting that a centrifuge manufacturing workshop had been hit. Later on June 21, Iran's Mehr news agency said Israel had launched strikes on the southern city of Shiraz, which hosts military bases. And early on June 22, Iran's Revolutionary Guard announced that a 'vast' wave of 'suicide drones' had been launched against 'strategic targets' across Israel. Iran denies seeking an atomic bomb, and on June 21 President Pezeshkian said its right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme 'cannot be taken away... by threats or war'. 'Not prepared to negotiate' In a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron, Mr Pezeshkian said Iran was 'ready to discuss and cooperate to build confidence in the field of peaceful nuclear activities'. 'However, we do not agree to reduce nuclear activities to zero under any circumstances,' he added, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency. Referring to the Israeli attacks, he said: 'Our response to the continued aggression of the Zionist regime will be more devastating.' Iran's armed forces threatened to strike shipments of military aid to Israel 'from any country'. Israel's main arms supplier is the United States, whose President Donald Trump warned on June 20 that Tehran had a 'maximum' of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes as Washington weighed whether to join Israel's campaign. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Istanbul on June 21 for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to discuss the conflict. Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met Mr Araghchi in Geneva on June 20 and urged him to resume nuclear talks with the United States that had been derailed by the war. But Mr Araghchi said on June 21: 'Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again, and once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed.' 'We're not prepared to negotiate with them (the Americans) anymore, as long as the aggression continues'. People waiting in an underground parking lot amid an attack by Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on June 21. PHOTO: REUTERS Hundreds killed Mr Trump, dismissive of European diplomatic efforts, said he was unlikely to ask Israel to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table. 'If somebody's winning, it's a little bit harder to do,' he said, of Israel's campaign. Any US involvement would likely feature powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses to destroy an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordow. US B-2 stealth bombers capable of carrying bunker busters were flying across the Pacific Ocean, according to tracking data and media reports, fuelling speculation over their intended mission. Iran's Houthi allies in Yemen on June 21 threatened to resume their attacks on US vessels in the Red Sea if Washington joined the war, despite a recent ceasefire agreement. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said on June 20 that, based on its sources and media reports, at least 657 people had been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians. Iran's health ministry on June 21 gave a toll of more than 400 people killed and 3,056 in the Israeli strikes. Iran's retaliatory strikes have killed at least 25 people in Israel, according to official figures. The Israeli military said it had launched a fresh wave of strikes on June 21 in the area of southern Iran's Bandar Abbas, targeting drone storage sites and a weapons facility. Iran's Tasnim news agency said air defences were activated in the area. Overnight, Iran said it had targeted central Israel with drones and missiles. Israeli rescuers said there were no casualties after an Iranian drone struck a residential building. On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Israel said June 21 that an Iranian terror plot targeting Israeli citizens had been 'thwarted'. 'Tired' Israel's National Public Diplomacy Directorate said more than 450 missiles had been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones. In Tel Aviv, where residents have faced regular Iranian strikes for nine days, some expressed growing fatigue under the constant threat from Iran. The streets of Tehran, meanwhile, were still largely quiet on June 21, though a few cafes and restaurants were open. In the afternoon, supporters of the government gathered briefly in front of the headquarters of state television to wave Iranian, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags to a soundtrack of electronic music whose lyrics called for the 'death of Israel'. Western powers have repeatedly expressed concerns about the expansion of Iran's nuclear programme, questioning in particular the country's accelerated uranium enrichment. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi has said Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to 60 per cent. However, his agency had 'no indication' of the existence of a 'systematic programme' in Iran to produce a bomb. Mr Grossi told CNN it would be 'pure speculation' to guess at how long it would take Iran to develop one. AFP Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 22, 2025
US President Donald Trump (centre) Vice-President J. D. Vance (left) and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reportedly took part in a tense June 19 call with Israel's leaders over Mr Trump's two-week deadline on whether to strike Iran. PHOTO: REUTERS While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, June 22, 2025 US split as Israel seeks swift action on Iran, sources say Israeli officials have told the Trump administration they do not want to wait two weeks for Iran to reach a deal to dismantle key parts of its nuclear programme and Israel could act alone before the deadline is up, two sources said, amid a continuing debate on Mr Trump's team about whether the US should get involved. The two sources familiar with the matter said Israel had communicated their concerns to Trump administration officials on June 19 in what they described as a tense phone call. The Israeli officials said they do not want to wait the two weeks that US President Donald Trump presented on June 19 as a deadline for deciding whether the US will get involved in the Israel-Iran war, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The Israeli participants on the call included Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir, according to a security source. READ MORE HERE B-2 bombers moving to Guam amid Middle East tensions The United States is moving B-2 bombers to the Pacific island of Guam, two US officials told Reuters on June 21, as President Donald Trump weighs whether the US should take part in Israel's strikes against Iran. It was unclear whether the bomber deployment is tied to Middle East tensions. The B-2 can be equipped to carry America's 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, designed to destroy targets deep underground. That is the weapon that experts say could be used to strike Iran's nuclear programme, including Fordow. READ MORE HERE Mahmoud Khalil vows to resume pro-Palestinian activism Mahmoud Khalil vowed to resume his pro-Palestinian activism as he returned to New York a day after he was released on bail from a jail for immigrants, even as US President Donald Trump's administration said it will continue its efforts to deport the recent Columbia University graduate. He arrived at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey on the afternoon of June 21 to cheers and ululations from friends and supporters. Mr Khalil, 30, was reunited with his wife, a US citizen, and greeted at the airport by US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York. READ MORE HERE Eight dead in Brazil hot-air balloon accident At least eight people were killed on June 21 when a hot-air balloon with 21 passengers caught fire in southern Brazil, a state governor said. It was the second fatal balloon accident in the vast South American country in less than a week. Videos taken by bystanders and carried on Brazilian television showed the moment when the balloon erupted in flames above a rural area outside the Atlantic coast town of Praia Grande, a tourist hotspot popular for hot-air ballooning. READ MORE HERE Belarus opposition leader freed after US mediation Belarus' top jailed opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky was freed alongside over a dozen other political prisoners on June 21 in a surprise release the European Union hailed as a 'symbol of hope'. His wife, Mrs Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who took the mantle of the opposition after his jailing, said the United States helped broker the deal and thanked US President Donald Trump. Mr Tikhanovsky, 46, had been imprisoned for more than five years. READ MORE HERE Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
