Major international shipping companies stop their operations through the Red Sea after a series of attacks by the Yemeni rebels
By Michael Pröbsting, Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 16 December 2023, www.thecommunists.net
The Houthis, a rebel movement which controls large parts of Yemen, have intensified their attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea in protest against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza. This has now forced major shipping companies to pause their operations through the Red Sea – a decision which will have huge implications for the capitalist world economy and the imperialist powers.
Since the beginning of the war, the Houthis have carried out a number of actions in solidarity with the Palestinian people in Gaza. First, they sent missiles and drones against Israel, later they started to strike cargo ships transiting the Bab al Mandeb. They even hijacked the Galaxy Leader, an Israeli-owned cargo ship, in a spectacular operation.
On 9 December, the Houthis published a statement saying that they “will prevent the passage of ships sailing to Israel, whatever their nationality, unless Gaza’s needs for food and medicine are met.” [1] Since then, the Houthis have conducted almost daily drone and missile attacks against commercial vessels. Yesterday, they struck two vessels off the coast of Yemen.
Major consequences for the capitalist world economy
As a result, two of the world’s largest shipping firms, Maersk (Denmark) and Hapag-Lloyd (Germany), have now announced that they will halt their Red Sea container ship traffic. [2] Other companies are reportedly also scaling back their operations in the Red Sea. [3]
This decision will have major and direct consequences for the world economy and the imperialist powers. Maersk alone accounts for about 17% of global shipping and Hapag-Lloyd for another 7%. About 20,000 ships, some 40% of international trade, pass annually through the Bab al Mandeb – a choke point which leads to the Red Sea, Israel’s southern port facilities, and the Suez Canal. More than six million barrels pass through it every day, mainly on their way to Europe.
As a result of the attacks, insurance costs for ships transiting the area have jumped in recent days. [4] If shipping companies are forced to reroute and send their cargo vessels around the African continent – instead through Bab el-Mandeb and the Suez Canal – transport take nine days longer. Furthermore, shipping through the Red Sea saves at least 15% of the transport costs. [5]
There is no doubt that this is a major development. It will most likely massively hike the price of oil and other strategic commodities of the capitalist world economy. This will massively increase the pressure on Israel and its Western imperialist allies. Washington already tries to assemble an international maritime task force which would be deployed in the Red Sea in order to protect container ships and, most likely, to launch military strikes against the Houthis.
It is certainly no exaggeration to say that through their bold solidarity actions the Houthis have opened the second front in the Gaza War to help their Palestinian brothers and sisters!
Will the Western imperialists start war against Yemen?
Ultimately, these developments will force the Western imperialist powers to make very difficult decisions. Either they force the Israeli war lords to bring their barbaric Gaza War rather sooner than later to an end – which would be an unprecedented political disaster and humiliation for the Zionist state (and, of course, the immediate collapse of the Netanyahu government).
Or they have to launch military attacks against the Houthis. However, such attacks would represent a major escalation and spread the war from Gaza to the whole Middle East. This is because, first, such attacks would open a war not only against the Houthis but rather against the whole Yemeni nation. Their militant pro-Palestine solidarity actions have massively increased the popularity of the rebels. Old enemies like Al-Islah, a major force in the Saudi-backed “official” government, have already congratulated the Houthis and sent a delegation to Sana’a to open negotiations with their leadership.
Furthermore, the Houthis – like Hamas – could enormously raise their prestige in the Arab and Muslim world through their militant anti-colonial stance. Finally, the Houthis have a number of allies, most importantly Iran, one of the largest military powers in the Middle East. A war of the U.S. against the Houthis could easily result in a war against Iran and provoke a drastic slump for the world economy.
It is well known that U.S. imperialism – in contrast to the right-wing extremists in the Israeli government – is not interested in such an expansion of the war. Washington’s main enemy is China, and it is already indirectly engaged – with huge financial costs – in the Ukraine War. However, the U.S. is inextricable bound to Israel, a colonial settler state which has become a junior imperialist state itself and which has close links with important sectors within America’s ruling class. In short, the White House faces a dilemma.
Siding with the Houthis against Israel and the U.S.
Naturally, we cannot know the decisions of Biden and Netanyahu in the next days. But we certainly don’t go wrong to say that – whatever they will decide – these developments will have major consequences for the Gaza War and the political developments in the Middle East.
The Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) has repeatedly pointed to the importance of the Houthis’ solidarity activities. We have always sided with the Palestinian liberation struggle and therefore advocate in the current Gaza War – like in the past ones – the military victory of the resistance led by Hamas without lending political support to the program or all tactics of its leadership. [6]
We therefore reiterate that the attacks of the Houthis are legitimate actions in solidarity with the Palestinian people whose armed forces are heroically resisting the Israeli invasion. [7] These actions are a form of popular sanctions against the Zionist state and its Western allies. In any confrontation between the Houthis and Western resp. Israel, we side with the Yemeni forces and call for the defeat of the imperialists.
Victory to the Palestinian resistance! Defeat Israel!
[1] New York Times: Houthi Militia Threatens to Block All Ships Headed to Israel, 9 December 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/09/world/middleeast/houthi-israel-ships-red-sea.html
[2] AFP: Shipping companies suspend Red Sea traffic after Yemen rebel attacks, 16 December 2023, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/16/shipping-companies-suspend-red-sea-traffic-after-yemen-rebel-attacks
[3] Financial Times: Shipping companies avoid Red Sea after Houthi attacks, 15 December 2023, https://www.ft.com/content/3f5d2519-94cb-4f37-9049-4e0e936212e2
[4] Al Jazeera: Attack launched from Houthi-held Yemen hits cargo ship in Red Sea, 15 December 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/15/yemen-rebels-hit-cargo-ship-in-latest-red-sea-attack
[5] Zoran Kusovac: Analysis: Is the Houthi threat to world order worse than the war on Gaza? 13 December 2023, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/13/analysis-is-the-houthi-threat-to-world-order-more-serious-than-the-war-on-gaza
[6] We refer readers to a special page on our website where more a number of RCIT documents on the 2023 Gaza War are compiled, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/compilation-of-articles-on-the-gaza-uprising-2023/.
[7] RCIT: Gaza War: The Houthis and the Looming Imperialist Intervention in the Red Sea, 14 December 2023, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/the-houthis-and-the-looming-imperialist-intervention-in-the-red-sea/; see also Michael Pröbsting: Yemen’s Houthis Seize Israeli Cargo Ship: A Legitimate Act of Solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance, 20 November 2023, https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/houthis-seize-israeli-cargo-ship/