Yemen's Houthi Rebels Build New Supply Chains for Maritime Strikes
Yemen's Houthi rebels have been attacking commercial shipping in the Red Sea since last fall, and despite countless efforts at striking their shoreside operations, they have maintained a steady tempo of attacks. Their resilience stems from continued support from their Iranian sponsors, their own in-house abilities, and - in an emerging development - a new diversity of suppliers, according to a top Navy leader.
The Houthis' supply chain has relied on Iran since the beginning of the group's militancy, and over the years, U.S. and allied forces have intercepted multiple Iranian weapons shipments bound for Yemen on the high seas. But the group's supply infrastructure has evolved "far beyond" what it was at the start of the Yemeni civil war 10 years ago, says 5th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. George Wikoff - and it now involves multiple players.
"There is a line of effort right now looking at all supply [lines] coming in to the Houthis, and we don't believe it's limited to the Iranians," said Wikoff in a video interview with CSIS. "The Houthis are diversifying. There's discussion that they could become exporters of the [weapons] technology."
Wikoff questioned the Houthi narrative of fighting for Palestinian rights, noting that the group attacked Saudi shipping for years before it attacked Israeli-linked shipping. The group's antishipping campaign is taking a regional toll, he said, from empty hotels in Aqaba to delayed aid deliveries in Port Sudan to the collapse of Egypt's Suez Canal revenues.
"Two-thirds of the people in Yemen . . . right now are in dire need of humanitarian assistance, and 30 million people are starving in the region," he said. "The Houthis have a narrative of why they're doing what they're doing but at the end of the day they're only hurting a lot of people who have absolutely nothing to do with what . . . what they're proclaiming they're doing."
American and allied naval forces have been attempting to stem the tide of Houthi attacks, with limited success. Wikoff acknowledged that U.S. efforts to degrade the group's capabilities have had limited success, and he described the U.S. Navy's current mission as a "shock absorber" in the Red Sea "to maintain some semblance of maritime order while we give an opportunity for policy to be developed." The challenge in creating deterrence, he suggests, is that the Houthis are a decentralized group and don't have much of a center of gravity to threaten.
Maritime security is one part of the threat picture, but there are other considerations - like ensuring Israel's security. After back-to-back assassination operations targeting members of terrorist group Hamas, Iran is expected to launch a large retaliatory attack against Israel by early next week, with expected assistance from Houthi forces and from Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. The U.S. Navy has been repositioning assets to deter Iran and help defend against an anticipated strike.
The carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt is currently on station off Yemen, and carrier USS Abraham Lincoln has just gotten under way from Guam to join the regional presence. On Thursday, the amphib USS Wasp pulled into port in Limassol, Cyprus, with elements of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit. A flat-deck amphib like USS Wasp would be an asset in a large-scale evacuation operation. “The visit comes at a time when the United States continues all efforts along with key partners to de-escalate regional tensions and to be prepared to support civilians in crisis,” U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus Julie Fisher said in a statement on X.
Houthis in Rare Effort Attack (and Miss) One Tanker Four Times
The Liberia-flagged tanker Delta Blue (158,000 dwt) has been the focus of a rare multi-day attack by the Houthis. The efforts saw the first use of speed boats and shoulder-launched rocket-propelled grenades (RPG), as well as missiles and drones, and yet the vessel reports it was not damaged and is continuing on its way.
While in the past the militants have gone after individual vessels multiple times, this instance has left security analysts speculating on the situation while the Houthis are yet to officially claim the attacks. Maritime security consultancy Vanguard reports that the Delta Blue does not appear to have any connections to the U.S., UK, or Israel, the primary targets of Houthi aggression.
The crude oil tanker which was built in 2012 operates for Delta Tankers, a Greek firm that reports a fleet of 29 tankers with a total deadweight of over five million tons. The firm has run afoul of the Iranians with one of its vessels seized in 2022. The Delta Poseidon was one of two vessels seized in May 2022 and held for six months in Iran.
“The intensity of this prolonged attack would indicate the vessel is likely to have an affiliation to Israel whether by ownership or recent trading activity,” speculates maritime security group Neptune P2P.
The first attack came yesterday with two small boats each carrying four people chasing the tanker while it was approximately 45 nautical miles south of Mukha, Yemen near the Bar al-Mandeb strait. That was the RPG attack with the master reporting an explosion nearby. The ship is laden and sailing from Iraq presumably to Europe.
The vessel was displaying on its AIS signal that it has armed guards aboard. It is unclear if the guards responded to this first attack. Eight hours later, Thursday night, the master reported a missile explosion also near the vessel.
Five hours after the second attack, the vessel reported an uncrewed surface vessel was approaching. This time the security guards fired at and successfully detonated the explosive drone boat before it could reach the tanker. About two hours later also on Friday morning a missile splashed in the sea near the tanker.
Neptune P2P notes that the incident demonstrates the value of having armed guards embarked to mitigate against some of the threats. This is not the first instance where the guards were able to explode a bomb boat before it came close enough to cause serious damage.
The attacks come after a lull in confirmed activity from the Houthi against specific ships. They however claimed earlier in the week unconfirmed attacks against the Contships containership Contship Ono and two U.S. destroyers. U.S. Central Command, however, continues to issue daily updates listing the number of aerial and surface drones as well as missiles destroyed. Yesterday’s report also cited the destruction of one Houthi ground control station in Yemen.
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