The Houthis are preparing for a naval battle with sixty booby-trapped boats, informed sources told Sheba Intelligence on Saturday.
With the help of Iranian experts over the past few days, the group has prepared for an expected naval battle with international forces in the Red Sea, according to the sources.
The sources added that the boats were distributed to several coastal centers in preparation for their deployment in the Red Sea if naval clashes erupt.
Moreover, the group installed a telecommunications system for drones at Al-Dailami Air Base in the capital, Sana'a, and brought into service Russian MiG and Sukhoi warplanes after engineers succeeded in maintaining them and obtaining spare parts from outside Yemen.
Three ships in the Red Sea came under missiles and drones fired from Yemen’s Ansar Allah (Houthi) group on Friday, an escalation that displays the deepening crisis of maritime security in the Red Sea.
Houthi spokesperson Yahia Sarea said the Yemeni armed forces targeted MSC Alanya and MSC PALATIUM III on Friday in the southern part of the Red Sea. The U.S. Central Command also said a UAV launched from Houthi-held territory hit the Liberian-flagged Motor Vessel AL JASRAH as it was traveling south in the Red Sea on Friday.
The scale of the attacks yesterday was unprecedented, and it was the first time the Houthi group hit three ships in a matter of hours. The group is set to launch more attacks on vessels and the Red and Arabian seas.
Sarea said, “The Yemeni armed forces confirm they will continue to prevent all ships heading to Israeli ports from navigating in the (Red Sea) until they bring in the food and medicine that our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip need.”
As attacks on ships continued intensifying, shipping companies began halting the passage of their vessels through Bab el-Mandeb. Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping company, announced on Friday that it told all of its vessels planning to pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to “pause their journey until further notice.”
Also, German-based shipper Hapag-Lloyd that was operating the Al Jasrah said it was pausing all its container ship traffic through the Red Sea until Monday.
According to the U.S. Central Command, the Houthi attacks on ships Friday caused no injuries, indicating that this round of attacks is “another demonstration of the great risk to international shipping caused by the Houthi actions.”
On Thursday, a U.S. official missed the Maersk Gibraltar, a Hong Kong-flagged container ship traveling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia. On Wednesday, two Houthi missiles missed a commercial tanker loaded with Indian-manufactured jet fuel near Bab el-Mandeb Strait. And on Monday, a Houthi missile slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea.
As the threats to ships in the Red Sea magnify, the U.S. says it will take ‘every step’ to deter Yemen’s Houthi group from carrying attacks in the Red Sea.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in Tel Aviv on Friday the Houthis represent a material threat to freedom of navigation, and the Yemeni group is doing so in a vital artery. Regarding the next steps of the U.S. to deal with this crisis, he said, “We are building a coalition. We are working to ensure that we rally the nations of the world, all of whom have an interest in seeing this stop.”
He added, “This is not about the United States and Israel. This is about the entire international community.”
On Thursday, Pentagon press secretary Brig Gen Pat Ryder said the U.S. and allies were working to bolster a maritime task force to tackle the Houthi threat. However, Iran said that any proposed multinational task force would be “challenged”.
The first Houthi attack on the Israeli-linked ship occurred on November 19, when the group seized the Galaxy Leader vessel, which is owned by an Israeli businessman. The ship remains in Al-Salif of Houthi-controlled Al-Hudaydah province. The group says the ship will not be released unless Israel stops its war on Gaza.
The Iran-backed Houthis say their attacks on ships in the Red Sea are part of their support for the Gaza Strip, where more than 18,400 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes and shelling since October 7.
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