Commercial ships still sailing through the Red Sea are broadcasting messages about their nationality and even religion on their public tracking systems to avoid being targeted by Yemen's Houthis after deadly attacks
Commercial ships still sailing through the Red Sea are broadcasting messages about their nationality and even religion on their public tracking systems to avoid being targeted by Yemen's Houthis after deadly attacks this week by the militia.
The Red Sea is a critical waterway for oil and commodities but traffic has dropped sharply since Houthi attacks off Yemen's coast began in November 2023 in what the Iran-aligned group said was in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.
The group sank two ships this week after months of calm and its leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi reiterated there would be no passage for any company transporting goods connected to Israel.
In recent days more ships sailing through the southern Red Sea and the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait have added messages to their AIS public tracking profiles that can be seen when clicking on a vessel.
Messages have included referring to an all-Chinese crew and management, and flagging the presence of armed guards on board.
"All Crew Muslim," read one message, while others made clear the ships had no connection to Israel, according to MarineTraffic and LSEG ship-tracking AIS data.
Maritime security sources said this was a sign of growing desperation to
Content Original Link:
" target="_blank">
