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- I think hipothermy is a given there?
International Pentagon announces new international mission to counter attacks on commercial vessels in Red Sea
- Thread starter LeonardoBjj
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- I think hipothermy is a given there?
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I heard they never found them but I got this from rumor/word of mouth from folks related to people on the team.
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Hypothermia is a given for anyone in the water long enough.
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What a joke. American imperial decline is gonna be tragicomic to say the least.
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Iranian and Hezbollah commanders help direct Houthi attacks in Yemen
By Samia Nakhoul and Parisa Hafezi
- Summary
- Iran supplied drones and precision-strike missiles - sources
- Iran provides know-how, data, intelligence in Red Sea - sources
- Houthis trained on advanced weapons in Iran last month - source
- Attacks show Iran's ability to threaten naval security
DUBAI, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Commanders from Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Lebanon's Hezbollah group are on the ground in Yemen helping to direct and oversee Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping, four regional and two Iranian sources told Reuters.
Iran - which has armed, trained and funded the Houthis - stepped up its weapons supplies to the militia in the wake of the war in Gaza, which erupted after Iranian-backed militants Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the four regional sources said.
Tehran has provided advanced drones, anti-ship cruise missiles, precision-strike ballistic missiles and medium-range missiles to the Houthis, who started targeting commercial vessels in November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, the sources said.
IRGC commanders and advisers are also providing know-how, data and intelligence support to determine which of the dozens of vessels travelling through the Red Sea each day are destined for Israel and constitute Houthi targets, all the sources said.
Washington said last month that Iran was deeply involved in planning operations against shipping in the Red Sea and that its intelligence was critical to enable the Houthis to target ships.
In response to a request for comment for this story, the White House pointed to its previous public comments about how Iran has been supporting the Houthis.
In his weekly news conferences, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has repeatedly denied Tehran is involved in the Red Sea attacks by the Houthis. The IRGC public relations office did not respond to request for comment.
Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam denied any Iranian or Hezbollah involvement in helping to direct the Red Sea attacks. A Hezbollah spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
The Houthis, who emerged in the 1980s as an armed group in opposition to Saudi Arabia's Sunni religious influence in Yemen, say they are supporting Hamas by striking commercial ships they say are either linked to Israel or are heading to Israeli ports.
Their attacks have affected global shipping between Asia and Europe through the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemen. That has triggered U.S. and British air strikes on Houthi targets in the country, opening a new theatre of conflict linked to the war in Gaza.
The Gaza conflict has also sparked clashes between Israel and Hezbollah militants along the Lebanese border, as well as attacks by Iran-linked groups on U.S. targets in Iraq and Syria.
"The Revolutionary Guards have been helping the Houthis with military training (on advanced weapons)," an Iranian insider told Reuters. "A group of Houthi fighters were in Iran last month and were trained in an IRGC base in central Iran to get familiar with the new technology and the use of missiles."
The person said Iranian commanders had travelled to Yemen as well and set up a command centre in the capital Sanaa for the Red Sea attacks which is being run by the senior IRGC commander responsible for Yemen.
REGIONAL STRATEGY
The Red Sea attacks fit in with Iran's strategy of expanding and mobilising its regional Shi'ite network of armed militias to project its influence and show its ability to threaten maritime security in the region and beyond, two analysts said.They said Tehran wanted to show that the Gaza war could be too costly for the West if it drags on - and could have catastrophic consequences in the region as things escalate.
"The Houthis are not acting independently," said Abdulaziz al-Sager, director of the Gulf Research Center think-tank, who based his conclusion on a close analysis of the capabilities of the group, which has an estimated 20,000 fighters.
"The Houthis, with their personnel, expertise and capabilities are not that advanced. Dozens of vessels cross through Bab al-Mandab daily, the Houthis don't have the means, resources, knowledge or satellite information to find the specific target and attack," he said.
White House national security spokeswoman Adrienne Watson also said last month that Iranian-provided tactical intelligence had been critical in enabling the Houthis to target ships.
According to two former Yemeni army sources, there is a clear presence of IRGC and Hezbollah members in Yemen. They are responsible for supervising military operations, training and reassembling missiles smuggled into Yemen as separate pieces, the two people said.
Abdulghani Al-Iryani, a senior researcher at the Sana'a Center for Strategic Studies, an independent think-tank, said: "It is clearly the case that the Iranians are helping identify the target and the destination. There is no local Houthi capacity to do that."
One senior regional source who follows Iran and who spoke on condition of anonymity said: "The political decision is in Tehran, the management is Hezbollah, and the location is the Houthis in Yemen."
WEAPONS AND ADVICE
Houthi spokesperson Abdulsalam said the group's aim was to target Israeli ships heading to Israel without causing any human or significant material losses. U.S. and British strikes on Yemen would not force them to back down, he said."We don't deny that we have a relationship with Iran and that we have benefited from the Iranian experience in training and military manufacturing and capabilities but the decision taken by Yemen is an independent one that has nothing to do with any other party,"
he said.
But a security official close to Iran said: "The Houthis have drones, missiles and everything needed for their fight against Israel but they needed guidance and advice on shipping routes and ships, so it has been provided to them by Iran."
When asked what kind of advice Tehran offered, he said it was similar to the advisory role taken by Iran in Syria, ranging from training to overseeing operations when needed.
"A group of Iranian Guards members are in Sanaa now to help the operations," the security official said.
Iran sent hundreds of Revolutionary Guards to Syria, alongside thousands of Hezbollah fighters, to help train and organise Shi'ite militia fighters from Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan to prevent the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad during the Sunni-led insurgency that erupted in 2011.
Washington and Gulf Arab states have repeatedly accused Iran of arming, training and financing the Houthis, who follow an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam and are aligned with Tehran as part of its anti-Western, anti-Israel "Axis of Resistance" alongside Lebanon's Hezbollah and groups in Syria and Iraq.
While Iran has denied having any direct role in the Red Sea attacks, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has praised the Houthis, whose Zaidi sect is an offshoot of Shi'ism, saying he hoped their strikes would last "until victory".
https://www.reuters.com/world/middl...-houthi-attacks-yemen-sources-say-2024-01-20/
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Shipments affected by Houthi assaults as vessel attacked off Yemen: Qatar
Ships carrying liquified natural gas from Qatar had been delayed previously before heading through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea
Qatar, one of the world's top exporters of liquified natural gas, warned Wednesday that its deliveries had been affected by ongoing attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on shipping over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The statement by QatarEnergy came as an explosion struck near a ship Wednesday travelling through a crucial strait near Yemen, though no damage or injuries were reported, the British military said. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion immediately fell on the Houthis.
Ships carrying liquified natural gas from Qatar had been delayed previously before heading through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. That's where the Houthi attacks have snarled shipping in a key route for Asia and the Middle East to ship cargo and energy to Europe.
Qatar, which has served as a key mediator between Hamas and Israel, has yet to see any of its ships attacked, however. A statement from its state-owned Qatar Energy producer said that its production continues uninterrupted, and our commitment to ensuring the reliable supply of LNG to our customers remains unwavering.
While the ongoing developments in the Red Sea area may impact the scheduling of some deliveries as they take alternative routes, LNG shipments from Qatar are being managed with our valued buyers, the statement said.
The statement suggests QatarEnergy's cargos now are travelling around Africa's Cape of Good Hope, likely adding time to their trips.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, an organisation monitoring Mideast waterways overseen by the British military, reported a blast Wednesday near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait off Yemen.
The explosion happened some 100 metres (325 feet) from the vessel, but caused no damage and its crew is safe, the British said.
The Houthis, who have been launching attacks on ships since November over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, did not immediately acknowledge the incident.
The US and the UK have launched rounds of airstrikes targeting suspected missile storage and launch sites used by the Houthis over the attacks.
https://www.business-standard.com/w...-attacked-off-yemen-qatar-124012400879_1.html
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Not quite sure who told you this has anything to do with democracy
Many, many more should have been, and will be killed.
There is no way this can be solved by some limited airstrikes, this is going to require a more intensive campaign, to put it mildly.
But to be fair, we'd still be fighting the symptoms instead of the disease that is the Iranian leadership.
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It amazes me how many Owners are still transiting the region. Back in 2008 or 9 my company had a ship taken in the region by Somali pirates, cost 3 million dollars in two suitcases hand delivered by my former colleague, who was the technical director of our company. He rented a tug boat out of (I think) Mombasa and had 2 South African mercenaries accompanying him. 2 minutes after the tug boat left the port, the captain jumped ship and my colleague (a former master mariner) had to navigate the boat into Somali waters to meet with and hand off the cash to the warlords.
Given how the world wide fleet of crew members were treated during covid, it's going to take just one casualty of a crew member for them to blanket mutiny any other Owners willing to traverse the region.
Given how the world wide fleet of crew members were treated during covid, it's going to take just one casualty of a crew member for them to blanket mutiny any other Owners willing to traverse the region.
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Lotally legit, this obviously has nothing to do with these beeing Iranian allies.
For someone so heavily into conspiracy theories it's a bit amusing to see you take these statements at face value.
You couldnt possibly fathom any alternate motives for these attacks right?
So now sooner or later Gulf countries together with India and China might opt for some small deNazification special operation in Yemen...cos Suez canal is main supply way for stuff they are selling to europe and U.K & EEZ...
Its what the Houthis said and was reflected in their actions. You have just been reading your typical mainstream media owned by the Jewish Lobby who wants war. You're naive.
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Russia sells it's oil to India.
India sells the oil to the UK.
To avoid sanctions, the UK can technically claim they bought India's oil while Russia makes a truckload of money.
That's how modern sanctions work.
Nope. It was a russian boat but now owned by Brittish i think.
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Well yeah, a british tanker with Russian cargo
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UK manufacturers hit by Red Sea disruption and rising shipping costs
Supply chain difficulties have led to job losses and cuts in purchasing and stocks, S&P Global poll showsBritain’s factories have been hit by disruption caused by Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea that led to shipping delays and contributed to rising costs, as the boss of Adidas warned about “exploding” global freight rates.
UK manufacturers have experienced growing supply chain difficulties, as the Red Sea crisis led to the rerouting of deliveries of raw materials, components and other goods away from the Suez Canal, a survey has shown.
The UK manufacturing sector remained in decline at the start of 2024, when output and new orders fell further, leading to more job losses and cuts in purchasing and stocks, according to the monthly survey from S&P Global.
Its purchasing managers’ index was at 47.0 in January, up from 46.2 in December but below an earlier flash estimate of 47.3. Any reading below 50 indicates contraction; any reading above points to expansion.
The Yemen-based Houthi rebels, who are aligned with Iran, have said they attacked ships in response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Israel is retaliating against an attack on 7 October by Hamas, which controls Gaza. The US and UK governments have launched airstrikes against the Houthi rebels.
Some manufacturers in the survey said 12 to 18 days could be added to some expected deliveries, disrupting their production schedules and raising inflationary pressures at a time when companies were struggling with weak demand at home and overseas.
Bjørn Gulden, the chief executive of Adidas, Europe’s largest sportswear manufacturer Adidas, said shipping disruptions would affect profit margins. He said “exploding” freight rates were driving up costs and shipping delays were causing some delivery problems.
Gulden said: “The spot rates are exploding again, so if you don’t have a long-term contract or you ship more than your contract there is an increased cost because of that.
“There is a delay currently of about three weeks which of course causes some delivery issues, especially to the European market.”
The world’s top shipping companies, including Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, have diverted ships from the Suez Canal and rerouted them around the southern tip of Africa, adding thousands of miles to journeys and delaying the arrival in Europe of manufacturing components and goods such as clothes and shoes made in Asia.
Rob Dobson, the director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: “Cost and stock management initiatives are being complicated by the Red Sea crisis. Diverting purchased inputs, especially those sourced from the Asia-Pacific region, around the Cape of Good Hope is raising prices and extending supplier lead times.”
The Suez canal normally handles about 12% of global trade, and about half of freight shipped through the canal is made up of containerised goods. Oil shipments also travel through this route, from the Persian Gulf to Europe and North America, and the continued Houthi rebel attacks on container ships have driven crude oil prices higher.
In the US, the Institute for Supply Management’s latest manufacturing survey, also released on Thursday, showed supplier delivery times rebounded to their highest level in more than a year, while the prices paid index hit a nine-month high.
However, the overall manufacturing index bounced back to 49.1 in January from 47.1 in December, suggesting the downturn in the sector wasreceding.
https://www.theguardian.com/busines...-red-sea-disruption-and-rising-shipping-costs
