Warning from Houthis on Navigation Restrictions in the Red Sea

Yemen's Houthi militia has issued a statement declaring that it is adding container ships carrying cargo for 15 companies—including Boeing—to its list of targets. Among the shipping lines believed to serve Boeing are CMA CGM and Maersk, though representatives of these operators have not confirmed the information. A Houthi spokesperson stated that the fleets of these operators will be banned from transiting the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean. Their vessels will be attacked wherever Yemen’s armed forces can reach them. Currently, Maersk vessels are already avoiding the Red Sea, so the new Houthi statement will have little impact on their operations. French company CMA CGM had continued using Red Sea routes after the escalation of the Arab-Israeli conflict, as it did not ship goods for Israel and was not a Houthi target. That situation has now changed. This indicates that the Red Sea crisis is dragging on, and expectations of restored shipping traffic through the Suez Canal—following U.S. airstrikes on Houthi positions—have yet to materialize.