Terror target: Global trade

Terrorist groups have embarked on a campaign to disrupt global trade, with Filipinos dangerously caught in the crossfire as huge shipping lines are being targeted.

Two of the world's largest shipping firms, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, said Friday they were suspending passage through a Red Sea strait vital to global commerce after Yemeni rebel attacks in the area.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen but are not recognized internationally, say they're targeting shipping to pressure Israel in its two-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

Department of Migrant Workers Officer-in-Charge Hans Cacdac said 15 Filipino seafarers were among the crew of the Liberian-flagged, German-owned Al Jasrah container ship that was attacked in the Red Sea off the Yemen coast on Friday.

All Filipino mariners are safe, according to Cacdac.

A US defense official said the Al-Jasrah is a 368-meter (1,207-foot) container ship built in 2016.

"We are aware that something launched from a Houthi-controlled region of Yemen struck this vessel, which was damaged, and there was a report of a fire," the official, speaking on condition of anonymity so he could discuss intelligence matters, said.

The US Central Command in the Middle East, or Centcom, confirmed on X, formerly Twitter, that "a UAV" struck the Al-Jasrah, causing a fire that was successfully extinguished.

The maritime tensions have added to fears that the Gaza conflict could spread.

Last 13 December, following the Houthis' announcement of their intention to attack any ship in the Red Sea whose destination or origin is Israel, a Norwegian tanker sailing in the Bab-el-Mandab straits was hit by a missile launched by the terror group.

The attack lent prominence to the Houthis' targeting of global shipping lanes.

German transport company Hapag-Lloyd said it was halting Red Sea container ship traffic until 18 December, after the Houthis attacked one of its vessels.

"Hapag-Lloyd is interrupting all container ship traffic across the Red Sea until Monday," the company said in a statement.

The Danish firm Maersk made a similar announcement a little earlier.

"We have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice," it said.

Maersk said this followed a "near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday," as well as Friday's attack in which the terrorists struck a Hapag-Lloyd cargo ship in the Red Sea.

Singapore-bound

A Hapag-Lloyd spokesman told AFP: "There has been an attack on one of our ships."

It was en route from the Greek port of Piraeus to Singapore. He added that there were no casualties, and the ship was traveling onward to its destination.

Later in the day, during a pro-Palestinian rally in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, the rebels said they attacked two other ships in the area.

"The container ships MSC Palatium and MSC Alanya were targeted by two naval missiles as they were heading toward the Israeli entity," Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a broadcast on the group's television channel.

The terrorists said that in an earlier attack, the Maersk Gibraltar was "targeted with a drone, and the hit was direct." However, according to a US official, the missile missed.

Saree said the attack came after the ship's crew "refused to respond to the calls of the Yemeni naval services" and that it was intended as retaliation for the "oppression of the Palestinian people."

Centcom said the MSC Alanya was only threatened but not struck, while the Palatium was hit by one of two ballistic missiles fired.

In a statement posted on 9 December on social media, the Houthis said they "will prevent the passage" of ships heading to Israel — regardless of ownership — if food and medicine were not allowed into besieged, Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Last month, they seized an Israel-linked cargo vessel, the Galaxy Leader, and its 25 international crew, which included 17 Filipinos.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday said the Houthi attacks "endanger not only Israel's security" but also international shipping routes.

Speaking in Tel Aviv, US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan expressed similar concern and said Washington was working with the international community "to deal with this threat."

The Houthis have declared themselves part of the "axis of resistance" of Iran-affiliated groups.

Western warships are patrolling the area and have shot down Houthi missiles and drones several times.                                                 

With AFP