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Yemen’s Houthis struck a bulk carrier, dubbed Star Iris, in the Red Sea,Reuters reports, citing a Monday televised statement by the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree. Despite Saree identifying the vessel as American, tracking data indicates that the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel is Greek-owned, the newswire writes. The attack saw damage to the ship’s starboard, British maritime security firm Ambrey reported, while also adding that the vessel was probably enroute to Iran. No crew were harmed in the attack and the Star Iris is proceeding on its journey, the newswire added, citing UKMTO.
Oops? The Houthi’s targeting of the Star Iris is poised to raise eyebrows, with the group previously stating that it would limit attacks to UK, US, and Israel-linked vessels while those from Russia, China, and “all other countries” would not be targeted. The Star Iris’ owner is listed on the US NASDAQ index which may have contributed to the vessel being targeted, Reuters wrote citing Ambrey.
Commercial ships continue to avoid Red Sea transits, despite reduced risk amid a slowdown in Houthi attacks, the Financial Times reports, citing security experts and senior shipping executives. US-led strikes have significantly reduced Houthi abilities to target ships, but attacks by the Houthis still represent a threat to commercial shipping, Sedna Global risks specialist Jon Gahagan told the FT. Shippers will likely only return to the traditional Red Sea route after a “prolonged period of stability,” chief executive of Danish bulk carrier Norden Jan Rindbo told the news outlet. Container ship arrivals at the Gulf of Aden for the week ending 5 February were down 92% compared to average entries in the first half of December, the FT added, citing Clarksons figures.
Andvessels are applying new measures to sidestep Houthi attacks in the Red Sea,Bloomberg reports. A Togo-flagged livestock carrier, dubbed Cattle Force, changed its destination to signal “All Crew Muslims” in a bid to be granted safe passage by the Iranian-backed group as it approached the Bab El Mandeb strait. The vessel later changed its destination to signal Iraq’s Umm Qasr port after safely transiting the strait. Previous weeks have seen other vessels signal messages such as “No Relation to Israel” in order to avoid being targeted, Bloomberg added.
Red Sea disruptions are impacting Europe’s crude market: Europe’s oil refineries are ramping up crude purchases from suppliers closer to home following Red Sea disruptions, with the trend tightening up the crude market and seeing backwardation in Brent futures whereby spot prices overtake futures contracts, Bloomberg reported earlier this week. Two diesel-rich West African crude grades — Forcados and Egina — fetched USD 5 and USD 7 a barrel premiums to Brent in recent trading, up from USD 4 and USD 6 a month ago, the outlet said. “The physical market’s awakening to the fact that the Red Sea disruptions are indeed disrupting physical flows and Europe needs more than it has right now,” lead crude analyst at Kpler Viktor Katona said. The trend may be short lived however, as an upcoming refinery maintenance season could see buying scaled back, the outlet wrote.
