Houthi rebels have been attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea for months. According to their own statements, they want to force Israel to end the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Most recently, the freighter “Rubymar,” which was loaded with 41,000 tons of fertilizer, sank after a rocket attack and caused serious environmental damage.
Now the militia may have launched a different kind of attack. Data cables that enable global telecommunications and internet communication have been cut. The result: data traffic between Europe, Asia and the Middle East is massively affected. Hong Kong-based HGC Global Communications reports that 25 percent of data traffic is disrupted and the Red Sea route is crucial for data transfer between Europe and Asia. In addition, the Internet in the East African country of Djibouti is said to be suffering from interruptions. However, the repairs cannot begin for another month at the earliest – partly because it takes so long to get the appropriate approval from the Yemeni shipping authority.
It is under the control of the Houthi militia. However, the Iranian-backed militias deny being behind the sabotage.
Important Trade Route
But one thing is certain: the Houthi militias fired several anti-ship missiles again in the Red Sea on Tuesday and hit a container ship. The ship, named “MSC SKY II,” is owned by Switzerland, the US military’s regional command said. It was sailing under the Liberian flag.
The sea route through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal is one of the most important trade routes in the world. However, because of the attacks by the Houthi fighters, who are armed by Iran, more and more large shipping companies are avoiding the shortest sea connection between Asia and Europe.
