The Houthis (and the Djibouti pirates on the opposite shore) lack the resources to effectively shut the Bab-el-Mandeb, especially now that their supplier and terror director state, Iran, is running out of war materials and money. A much more likely and equally dangerous scenario is the commandeering and sinking of some tankers/supermax cargo carriers in the Suez Canal. We can sweep a waterway for mines and escort cargo ships in contested waters. There ain’t a damn thing we can do if pirates take over some ships, sail them in a row and then blow them up. Yes we have the ability to clear the canal but remember the effect that the the Ever Given had back in ’21? I’ll remind you, one ship run aground – $9,000,000,000 a day in losses and a global disruption of supply chains.
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The Houthis (and the Djibouti pirates on the opposite shore) lack the resources to effectively shut the Bab-el-Mandeb, especially now that their supplier and terror director state, Iran, is running out of war materials and money. A much more likely and equally dangerous scenario is the commandeering and sinking of some tankers/supermax cargo carriers in the Suez Canal. We can sweep a waterway for mines and escort cargo ships in contested waters. There ain’t a damn thing we can do if pirates take over some ships, sail them in a row and then blow them up. Yes we have the ability to clear the canal but remember the effect that the the Ever Given had back in ’21? I’ll remind you, one ship run aground – $9,000,000,000 a day in losses and a global disruption of supply chains.