A Saudi official has denied reports that Riyadh is providing logistical support for the U.S. air strikes targeting Yemen’s Houthis, Reuters reports.
Speaking to the Saudi news network Al-Arabiya, the official denied allegations that Riyadh is providing oil supplies for the ongoing military operations in Yemen. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered military operations in Yemen targeting Houthi sites, whom he described as “terrorists”. U.S. officials expect the American strikes to continue for days, or possibly weeks.
Since 2023, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have repeatedly attacked cargo ships passing through the strait of Bab al-Mandab that splits northeast Africa from Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula. The Iran-backed rebels have been targeting vessels with connections to Israel and Western countries, forcing dozens of shipping companies to take a 4,000-mile detour around the continent of Africa at significantly higher costs and extra shipping days.
The Red Sea is one of the world’s most densely packed shipping channels and the most significant waterway connecting Europe to Asia and East Africa. About 12% of global trade, including 30% of global container traffic, passes through the Red Sea, meaning that delays there can potentially affect fuel prices as well as the availability of various commodities and electronics.
Dozens of companies halted shipping in the Red Sea and at the Suez Canal. Last year, four of the world’s five largest container-shipping companies, namely Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA, CGM, and MSC, have paused or suspended their services in the Red Sea, the route through which traffic from the Suez Canal must pass.
Unfortunately, resurging attacks coming from notorious piracy hotspots have shipping companies worried about the new route. Last year, Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization, warned shipping companies to be on high alert for piracy after vessel seizures in the Gulf of Guinea and off the Somali coast.
Houthi rebels attacked and set ablaze a cargo ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden. A tanker’s crew was also kidnapped off Equatorial Guinea by pirates. Similarly, the crew of a dry bulk carrier sailing on Somali waters was forced to abandon ship after a missile attack.
