A Houthi leader says vessels that signal they have no ties to Israel when transiting the Red Sea, Arabian Sea and Bab el Mandeb would be safe from the rebel group’s attacks.

In a message to “ministries of transport in all countries of the world and to international shipping companies” posted on X and translated from Arabic, Muhammad Ali al-Houthi said ships should broadcast a “We have no relationship to Israel” message, presumably on AIS.

“This simple solution is inexpensive and will not incur any financial costs for any company,” he said in an apparent reference to insurance costs.

Shipping companies may be hard to convince, given the seemingly indiscriminate nature of Houthi attacks on ships with or without ties to Israel so far.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence data from January 8 at 1445 hrs EST shows only two vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden indicating via AIS that they have no connection to Israel (excluding ships smaller than 10,000 dwt). Almost 60 vessels had messages relaying the presence of armed guards on board. Excluding the Gulf of Aden, that figure fell to about 24.

Vessel traffic in the Red Sea is down by just over a fifth as of last week, driven primarily by an exodus of boxships as major carriers divert their ships around the Cape of Good Hope.

The trend was exacerbated over the past week as activity across several different segments declined, analysis of Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows.

An average of 105 bulk carriers were active each day in the Red Sea in the first week of January, down from 115 the week prior. Product tanker activity averaged 58 vessels daily during that period in January, down from 70 the week before.

Al-Houthi’s message comes after the US Central Command reported it shot down another drone on Sunday, and several days after a US-led coalition of 13 nations warned the Houthis to stop their attacks in the Red Sea or face consequences.

There were no casualties or damage reported in Sunday’s incident, Centcom said on X.

With additional reporting from Bridget Diakun.