The Houthi group in Yemen has attacked ships in the Red Sea, exposing the weakness of African maritime security. There have been 133occurrences recorded since November 2023, including 14 ships that were hit by drones or missiles and 18 ships that were taken over by Somali pirates. The security and economic growth of Africa are fundamentally threatened by the disruptions brought about by nonstate actors who are not constrained by international law and who have access to stocks of standoff weapons.
Introduction
The Houthis have made threats to cut off the 20 underwater cables that surround the Red Sea and serve as submerged communication networks. Not long later, a Houthi missile attacked the Rubymar, a ship transporting 21,000 metric tons of fertilizer ammonium phosphate sulfate, causing it to sink. Three subsea cables are thought to have been damaged by its dragging anchor.
A quarter of the world’s shipping trade passes via the Western Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea because of the assaults. The consequences were evident right away.
The shipping patterns connecting the massive global markets of Asia and Europe have changed as a result of international shipping corporations rerouting their routes away from the Red Sea. The cost of goods for customers in Africa and throughout the world has increased due to a jump in shipping insurance charges. A vessel’s voyage may be prolonged by up to two weeks and 6,000 additional nautical miles due to diversions around South Africa.
