THE RED SEA may soon be the focal point of another major war. Emphasis on may, because nobody’s quite sure how the players will act.
When the Houthis began attacking ships passing through Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab straight, they claimed that they had done it in solidarity with the Palestinians.
The attacks don’t seem like it, though. They had attacked many ships, many of which had barely any connection with Israel.
Now, a lot of countries are responding. The United States and its allies are calling for convoys. The Indians have reportedly saved the crew of a hijacked vessel. The French are not sure if they want to join the Americans in their convoy operations or go at it on their own. And, of course, the Iranians are making their moves.
As for Israel, their ships seem to be taking an alternate route. Strangely, I haven’t heard much from China with regards to this issue, considering the size of their imports from the Middle East.
What is happening now in the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab is the return of warfare related piracy.
There’s piracy that is driven for profit, such as Somali piracy for example, and there is war-driven piracy or privateering, which is driven by profit and politics.
What is happening now in the Red Sea is privateering on behalf of Hamas and any other group that opposes Israel. Now, it’s worth mentioning that privateering is nothing new. It was quite common throughout history and leverages private groups to carry out military naval operations.
This is a good thing for states and armies. It is not so good for companies, traders and ship owners, who must now find a way to protect their assets or travel around the affected areas.
Will this affect the Philippines?
You bet it will. Expect the cost of energy to go up. There will also be knock on effects on Asia and Europe, which will affect us here.
The only way to stop the Houthi attacks is to make a determined military strike against their strongholds, and I don’t think anyone has the stomach for that…yet./PN
