EVEN the Houthis are urging shipping companies to do their due diligence before sending vessels through the Red Sea.

The Iran-backed Yemeni faction has warned the industry that its “fourth phase” (which in reality has been in place for a long time already) will target any vessels belonging to companies whose ships have called at Israeli ports.

That announcement came after the attacks on Magic Seas and Eternity C, the latter of which has left four dead and 11 seafarers held hostage by the Houthis.

But many security analysts have questioned whether this so-called “fourth phase” changes much: in reality the target profile is broadly the same, and if you are linked with or have had dealings with Israeli ports or companies you really should know better.

This point has been made eloquently in Lloyd’s List’s weekly opinion column, The View. Whether Eternity C was heading to the Israeli port of Eilat or not, we do know that HSL Nike, another Cosmoship-owned vessel, was on its way to Haifa.

The risk assessment, if it was conducted, surely would have concluded that sending another bulker through at the same time was dicey.

Perhaps, as The View points out, the commercial opportunity was simply worth the risk.

Either way, the statement from Cosmoship that expresses deep relief and “great comfort” at seeing the captive seafarers alive and well is somewhat galling.

Not as galling as the hostage video packaged as a cheery search and rescue film released by the Houthis it must be said, in which the captured seafarers express their gratitude at being helped from the water (a feat beyond the combined navies of the EU, UK and US, remember) and their sincere apologies to the people of Palestine.

While the decisions made by shipowners might be morally dubious, it is the Houthis that are killing seafarers.

The fourth phase of Houthi attacks has officially begun then. So, what’s changed?

Well, the target profile has been altered slightly — at least on paper — but then the Houthis have always been very good at firing the rockets first and making the targets fit later.

And despite the Houthi calls for shipowners to do their homework to avoid being targeted, this is unlikely to put off anyone who was happy to have their seafarers run the gauntlet anyway.

Who will pay for this in the end? All together now: the seafarers.

It’s all becoming grimly predictable.

Joshua Minchin
Senior reporter, Lloyd’s List

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