US 'unreliable' to protect international maritime trade, FT says
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The Financial Times deems the United States unreliable when it comes to underpinning global maritime trade in light of the ongoing Yemeni operations against US, British, and Israeli interests in the Red Sea.
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This photograph provided by the Indian Navy shows the US-owned ship Genco Picardy that came under attack from a bomb-carrying drone launched by the Yemeni Armed Forces in the Gulf of Aden, January 18, 2024 (AP)
The United States is today being faced with a truly unique challenge, for while it has previously faced off against parties who sought to disrupt maritime trade for personal benefits and piracy, it is today up against the Yemeni Armed Forces, a force to be reckoned with that happens to possess ballistic missiles and state-of-the-art drones and whose goals are far different from anyone else that sought to obstruct global trade.
The Yemeni Ansar Allah movement has underlined that it is not in pursuit of any spoils or anything of the sort when it started targeting any Israeli-flagged ships and any ships bound for the Israeli occupation; it had the clear aim of wanting to get aid delivered to Gaza and have "Israel" blockaded in a bid to force it to relent in its aggression on Gaza, saying repeatedly that their operations would stop as soon as aid is allowed into the blockaded war-torn Strip.
Even while spending 0.21% of its gross national income on patrolling shipping lanes, which has been beneficial for its goals in places such as off the coast of Somalia, the US would not be able to have that much of an effect on Yemen.
Financial Times columnist Alan Beattie argued that relying on the United States to protect Red Sea shipping routes is risky in a report titled "The world cannot depend on the US to keep trade peace," wherein he highlighted that Ansar Allah has land bases and sophisticated technologies, not to mention broad support from regional powerhouse Iran, while going into this full-well knowing it would incur them heavy losses.
US going solo
Today, the United States, alongside the United Kingdom, is launching airstrikes on Yemen in retaliation against Ansar Allah, who Beattie acknowledged would not have started to attack ships had it not been for Washington providing as much aid and support as it did to the Israeli occupation in its war on Gaza. However, the US' allies who are ready to go into a full-fledged war over the Red Sea are greatly limited and close to non-existent; while several countries are involved in the aggression on Yemen, namely Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands, not to mention Bahrain, their involvement is non-operational.
The US is quite all alone, with even China and India, both of which have commercial interests in the Red Sea, not acting against Yemen's closure of Bab al-Mandab in the face of Israeli and Israeli-bound ships. Even Egypt, whose revenues from canal transit fees are down 40%, does not dare take action because it would be aligning itself with the pro-Israelis with a population that is overwhelmingly pro-Palestinian.
On the other hand, shipping costs through the Red Sea soared 310% since last November as the US and the UK continue to deploy their strike groups in the strategic global trade waterway, with aims to protect Israeli interests from Yemeni operations.
As the United States attempts to keep the trade route open today, its views might change tomorrow and so might its interest with the potential advent of former President Donald Trump to power once again, with his isolationist protectionist policies that might even see him withdrawing support to key allies, such as Ukraine and Taiwan.
The United States, which is being relied on to open up the Red Sea once again by numerous of its allies that would not even join in were it to go to war, and even if it did in the meantime, it runs the risk of Trump coming back to office. When taking into consideration that the US mostly relies on the Panama Canal in its trade and does not have that many interests in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, it becomes clear that Trump would all but keep supporting whatever President Joe Biden starts today.
Yemen controls maritime trade
The Yemeni Armed Forces carried out on Wednesday an attack against the American-owned Genco Picardy as it sailed through the Gulf of Aden, the spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced.
Saree said that the attack came "in support of the plight of the Palestinian people and in solidarity with our brethren in the Gaza Strip, and within the framework of responding to the American-British aggression on our country."
Firing several anti-ship missiles, the Yemeni Armed Forces dealt "precise and direct hits" to the Genco Picardy.
The spokesperson reiterated that the YAF will not hesitate to target "all sources of threat in the Arabian and Red Sea, within the legitimate right of defending [Yemen] and supporting the oppressed Palestinian people."
Moreover, Saree warned the United States and the United Kingdom of an inevitable response to their attacks on Yemen, adding that any renewed aggression "will not go without retaliation and punishment."
Following the repeated US-British aggression on Yemen, the Yemeni Supreme Political Council of the Sanaa government declared that now "all American and British interests have become legitimate targets for the Yemeni Armed Forces."
On its part, the Yemeni Foreign Ministry on Tuesday called on maritime shipping companies to pursue their operations in the Red Sea "as long as they are not heading to the Zionist enemy."
The Ministry said in a statement that operations targeting ships in the Red Sea are solely "limited to ships owned by the Israeli enemy or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine."
Additionally, Yemen defending Palestine by blocking the Red Sea caused, according to a Bloomberg report, a staggering 173% increase in the spot price for container shipping driven by disruptions caused by the Yemeni resistance in the Red Sea.
Freightos.com data indicates that the spot rate for shipping a 40-foot container from Asia to northern Europe surpassed $4,000 in mid-December, prompting concerns across the industry.
Freightos reported on Wednesday that shipping costs from Asia to the Mediterranean soared to $5,175, with carriers hinting at prices exceeding $6,000 for this route starting in mid-January.
Simultaneously, rates from Asia to North America's East Coast experienced a 55% surge, reaching $3,900 for a 40-foot container.
