Threat of the Houthis: The Oil Company Stops Sailing in the Red Sea

The maritime terrorism continues: the oil company British Petroleum announced today (Monday) that all of the company's tankers will stop sailing in the Red Sea until further notice. This is due to the "deteriorating security situation at sea" due to the threat of the Houthis from Yemen.

This is the fifth company to announce the cessation of operations in the Red Sea in the last week, with BP joining Hong Kong's OOCL, Denmark's Maersk, France's CMA CGM and Germany's Hapag-Lloyd who have already announced a similar move. This is a dramatic decision that may cause a price increase in products imported from abroad.

As a reminder, this morning the United Kingdom's Maritime Trade Operations Agency (UKMTO) reported an explosion that occurred on a ship in the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. According to the report, the incident took place about 30 nautical miles south of the port city of Mokha in Yemen.

Later it was said that the Houthis fired missiles at two ships in the Red Sea, with the aim of preventing them from reaching Israel. Among the ships attacked was a Norwegian-owned tanker, with the ship's owners confirming that none of the crew were injured.