The Houthis targeting the Red Sea, Russia's blockade in the Black Sea. Maritime choke points have long been targeted in situations of armed conflicts. Attacking and blockading these strategic points directly impact the global trade resulting in precarious economic and humanitarian crises.Â
The Mediterranean Shipping Company, the world’s largest shipping group recently announced that it would no longer be taking the Red Sea route for its maritime transport of cargo, diverting the route to the Cape of Good Hope. The other major European shipping companies such as the French CMA CGM and German Hapag-Lloyd have taken a similar stand. This decision to divert the shipping routes away from the Red Sea comes as the conflict in West Asia spills over to the maritime domain. The reason for this escalation? The Houthis of Yemen.Â
Days after the Israeli retaliation to the attack by Haas erupted, the Houthis declared an official state of war against Israel, thereby creating a regional crisis. The Houthi rebels have strategically decided to take control of the maritime domain, disrupting the inflow of resources into Israel via the Red Sea. In their official position, they have declared that the ships transporting cargo to Israel will be specifically targeted, prompting the major shipping vessels and companies to divert their routes towards alternative routes. The Houthis, as a part of their offensives, have targetted major shipping vessels from the United States, the UK and France, incurring significant costs to these countries as well. This has led the United States to formally announce the deployment of a maritime protection force to ensure the security of commercial vessels moving through the Red Sea by containing attacks from the rebels in Yemen. The disruption of commercial shipping by the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea will have consequences not only for Israel but also for the whole region and beyond. This is solely because of the strategic importance of the Red Sea.Â
Located between the coasts of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the Red Sea leads the passage through two very important maritime transit points - the Suez Canal in the North and the Strait of Bab El-Mandab in the South. This narrow passage allows for many of the trading ships from Europe and Asia to reach their destinations in a cost and time-effective manner. The same cannot be said for the passage through the Cape of Good Hope, the alternative route adopted by many Western shipping companies in the aftermath of the attacks perpetrated by the Houthis. This passage would take the vessels a two-week longer journey, moving through challenging weather conditions to reach their destinations.Â
This is not the first time wherein the control of maritime routes has been used to perpetrate a crisis of global proportions. The other war, raging in Europe even now, also saw an impact on global trade and supply of goods due to the choking of strategic points across the Black Sea. The Russian control of the Black Sea and disrupting the export capacity of Ukraine by controlling its ports led to the creation of a significant food and resources crisis in regions far away from the conflict zone. Black Sea remains one of the most contentious zones of the Russia-Ukraine War, impacting the wheat exports from Ukraine to the rest of the world, especially Asia and Africa. Major countries importing Wehat from Ukraine were impacted by an unprecedented food security crisis as a result of Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea. Ever since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has not been able to export the wheat crops harvested last season as well, running the risk of accruing huge damage to the agricultural sector of the country as well as its commercial exports.Â
Image Source: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russia-ukraine-war-turkey-black-sea-power-montreux-explainedÂ
The shipping route of the Black Sea goes through the Bosphorus Strait into the Mediterranean Sea to reach West Asia and North Africa. The blockade since the beginning of the war has rendered this route unreachable for the Ukrainian shipping vessels. International efforts are underway to create humanitarian corridors to allow for passage of the civilian cargo ships, one of which successfully reached the coast of Turkey earlier this year as well. However, these efforts were met with diplomatic and strategic challenges, especially when Russia decided to back away from the grain deal which allowed for Ukrainian exports of grains to poorer countries on humanitarian grounds. The Battle for the Black Sea continues but the impact on the global food supply as a result of the blockade imposed by the war has had wide-ranging repercussions. More so for the states of West Asia and North Africa that have been facing food security crises perpetuated by the pandemic, internal political crises, civil wars and devastating effects of climate change.Â
These series of events point to the importance of maritime choke points in gaining an advantage during armed conflicts and creating a global impact on regional confrontations. The Houthis’ decision to take control of the Red Sea through the Bab Al Mandab strait and target shipping vessels moving through the region not only deters Israel from getting access to their commercial imports but also adds to the perils of the global trade systems. Many of the ships diverted their routes, moving through the longer route along the Cape of Good Hope not only adds to the time but also the costs of shipping, resulting in higher prices of imports all across the world. The Red Sea is a vital choke point for impacting a considerable fraction of world trade as it constitutes about 80 per cent of the world’s commercial fleet, involving the supply of energy resources to Europe through the Middle East as well.Â
The maritime domain has always been strategically viable for incurring losses in case of conflicts, by targetting major choke points, the conflict ceases to remain regional but has global implications. The same is true for the ongoing conflicts in West Asia and Europe. These choke points become a tool for expanding the consequences of regional conflicts and impacting the whole world in one form or the other.