Situation in the Red Sea (Houthi Thread)

Over the weekend US forces (along with our British sidekick) launched a series of strikes against the Houthis.

On Feb. 24, at approximately 11:45 p.m. (Sanaa Yemen time), U.S. Central Command forces alongside UK Armed Forces, and with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, conducted strikes against 18 Houthi targets in Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas of Yemen. These strikes from this multilateral coalition targeted areas used by the Houthis to attack international merchant vessels and naval ships in the region. Illegal Houthi attacks have disrupted humanitarian aid bound for Yemen, harmed Middle Eastern economies, and caused environmental damage.
The targets included Houthi underground weapons storage facilities, missile storage facilities, one- way attack unmanned aerial systems, air defense systems, radars, and a helicopter. These strikes are intended to degrade Houthi capability and disrupt their continued reckless and unlawful attacks on international commercial and U.S. and U.K. vessels in the Red Sea, Bab AI-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden.
The goal of this multi-national effort is to defend ourselves, our partners, and allies in the region and restore freedom of navigation by destroying Houthi capabilities used to threaten U.S. and partner forces in the Red Sea and surrounding waterways. These strikes are separate and distinct from the multinational freedom of navigation actions performed under Operation Prosperity Guardian.
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Menwhile Houthis launched an attack against a US-flagged, owned, and operated oil tanker "Torm Thor" - one missile was intercepted by the USS Mason.

USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer, on Saturday shot down one anti-ship ballistic missile launched into the Gulf of Aden from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen that was likely targeting the tanker.
Neither the USS Mason nor MV Torm Thor were damaged and there were no injuries, CENTCOM added in a statement.
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US Navy has had a respectable ability to protect itself and nearby US commercial ships from the Houthis so far. Not perfect, but certainly not bad. Does anyone know if the Houthis have been throwing low-level stuff at us, or are they giving the best they have? There's always the cat-and-mouse game, and this time it appears to be an extended game. I imagine both sides are holding back their best systems, so as to minimize intelligence collection against their greatest strengths.
 
Pointy Elbows said:
US Navy has had a respectable ability to protect itself and nearby US commercial ships from the Houthis so far. Not perfect, but certainly not bad. Does anyone know if the Houthis have been throwing low-level stuff at us, or are they giving the best they have? There's always the cat-and-mouse game, and this time it appears to be an extended game. I imagine both sides are holding back their best systems, so as to minimize intelligence collection against their greatest strengths.
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It's a matter of time before the naval drone technology gets proliferated and perfected.

Ukraine's usage of unmanned naval drones shows gigantic potential. The Russian Black Sea feet has suffered significant losses and is held at bay (basically circling the same patrol routes close to Russian ports) by these devices which can be mass produced at a low cost.

Once Ansarallah starts using these naval drones in large numbers - they had a single naval drone strike last week, they will be able to fully close off the Red Sea and have a much higher success rate in targeting commercial vessels.
 
Pointy Elbows said:
US Navy has had a respectable ability to protect itself and nearby US commercial ships from the Houthis so far. Not perfect, but certainly not bad. Does anyone know if the Houthis have been throwing low-level stuff at us, or are they giving the best they have? There's always the cat-and-mouse game, and this time it appears to be an extended game. I imagine both sides are holding back their best systems, so as to minimize intelligence collection against their greatest strengths.
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We don't know much about the extend of Houthi's capabilities, I've linked an article before:
TruckDriver9 said:
A look into Houthi's missile arsenal
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But it's just speculation based on what Iran has in its arsenal. We don't know whether Iranians send them their most advanced missiles to test them in real life conditions, or do they just dump their oldest munitions, no longer needed for Iran itself. A lot of near missed strikes suggest the latter - modern anti-ship missiles with auto homing guidance would deliver different results. But even the most advanced weapons - if Iran was to provide Houthis with them - don't operate in a void, they require a comprehensive ISTAR (intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, reconnaissance) support to deliver proper results.

LaAguilaNegra said:
It's a matter of time before the naval drone technology gets proliferated and perfected.

Ukraine's usage of unmanned naval drones shows gigantic potential. The Russian Black Sea feet has suffered significant losses and is held at bay (basically circling the same patrol routes close to Russian ports) by these devices which can be mass produced at a low cost.

Once Ansarallah starts using these naval drones in large numbers - they had a single naval drone strike last week, they will be able to fully close off the Red Sea and have a much higher success rate in targeting commercial vessels.
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And the same goes for naval drones. The reason why ukrainians are able to successfully target Russian ships is not the drones themselves, but the ISTAR support they get from the US and NATO - every strike against Black Sea Fleet was delivered with active participation of western drones/planes. Without that support ukrainians, just like the Houthis, would have trouble finding the right target in the first place. And while Iran is providing Houthis with intelligence, the scale and scope of their support is limited.
 
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According to Israeli news outlets, Houthis severed underwater communication cables between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti.

According to the reports, these are cables from the companies AAE-1, Seacom, EIG and TGN. This is causing serious disruption of Internet communications between Europe and Asia, with the main damage being felt in the Gulf countries and India. Estimates are that the damage to communications activities is significant but not critical because other cables pass through the same region linking Asia, Africa and Europe that have not been hit. The repair of such a large number of underwater cables may take at least eight weeks according to estimates and involve exposure to risk from the Houthi terror organization. The telecommunications companies will be forced to look for companies that will agree to carry out the repair work and probably pay them a high risk premium.
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It_Is_My_Time said:
No one else here believes this. Good luck in convincing anyone else this is true, because it both makes no sense at all and isn't based in any reality.
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I think this is the truth. And great argumentation... The US state would never lie about groups like ISIS or Al Qeida would they?
 
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WGOWS says that the Rubymar will probably break apart, forward of the bridge, and sink. Although there are plans for recovery, it probably not possible. It has also been drifting, and the anchor may well have taken out undersea cables. The Houthis says they will only allow it to be tugged away if aid is delivered to Gaza.

 
German frigate "Hessen" deployed to the Red Sea as part of the EU operation "Aspides", reportedly shot down 2 Houthi drones, and tried, but failed, to shoot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone.

German defense ministry spokesperson Michael Stempfle recently told reporters at a media conference, Reuters reports. "This is... probably the most dangerous deployment of the German Navy for many, many years," he said.
(...)
Hessen intercepted the first drone using its 76mm deck gun, Stempfle said to reporters, while the second drone was shot down using a RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile. The two drones were supposedly "recognized by the radar system and had a different range… That's why two different weapons were used." The use of both these systems indicates that the UAVs came remarkably close to Hessen.
(...)
However, the successful shootdown of the two drones was not the first live-use of weapons by Hessen against targets while operating in the Red Sea. On the evening of February 26, its crew attempted to shoot down an unknown drone after efforts to clarify its nature with U.S. forces were unsuccessful. Two Standard Missile 2 (SM-2) interceptors were fired at the target, "but that didn't work," Stempfle stated. It was subsequently understood that the unknown drone target in question was a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper which did not have the transponder for the friend-foe identification (IFF, Identification Friend-Foe) switched on. According to reporting by Spiegel, both missiles failed due to technical problems during the friendly-fire incident. The MQ-9, it says, was assigned to a separate counter-terrorism operation.
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Houthis started March with an attack on a Liberian-flagged container ship "MSC Sky II", as a result a fire started aboard. Indian Navy responded to a distress call and provided assistance.
The Liberian-flagged vessel was targeted by two missiles, with one landing some distance from the ship but a second hitting an accommodation block, according to reports. “The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured,” said MSC in a statement. The ship was due to arrive in Djibouti on Tuesday for further assessment.
The footage showed blackened and fire-damaged goods inside the container as the 12-strong team damped down. The team transferred from an Indian naval destroyer, the Kolkata, which escorted the ship to safer waters, said the Indian Navy.
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In other news, routine kicks in: American forces continue their strikes in Yemen, and the Europeans intercepted another drone.
 
Ember said:
The Rubymar has sunk, for real, this time. The CEO of the Blue Fleet Group, Roy Khoury, told Sky News by email, 'She sunk'. No Video footage is available of the sinking, so far.

View attachment 5735

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Apparently no one can find Rubymar's insurer.

Neither GMZ or the ship’s chartering broker, Blue Fleet Group of Lebanon have been able to confirm Rubymar’s current insurance arrangements.
Rubymar was until last summer covered by fixed cost P&I provider British Marine, however that arrangement was terminated last year according to British Marine.
Lloyd’s List has approached 23 separate providers of P&I, all of which have confirmed that they do not cover Rubymar. The Belize flag administration has not responded to requests for more information regarding the vessel’s insurance cover.
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BeatUpTruck said:
Is Iran resupplying these guys or have they been preparing for this for a long time?
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Both, I guess.
Houthis have been at war against Saudi led coalition forces for years before this crisis, so they definitelly have deep storages and know how to hide them - clearly US and UK strikes were not enough to eliminate them. But that being said, they are unable to manufacture any advanced systems on their own (they can reassemble weapons smuggled in) so if the US Navy can enforce a blockade, Houthis sooner or later should run out of ammo - weapon shipments to Houthi held parts of Yemen go against UN Security Council resolutions, and from time to time US Navy and Coast guard seize smuggling vessels:
TruckDriver9 said:
3. US Coast Guard intercepted a Houthi-bound weapons shipment in the Arabian Sea.

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However it's unclear how many of those shipments get caught.
 
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I fear we might be looking at first civilian casualties - a Barbados-flagged bulk carrier "True Confidence" was hit by a missile and abandoned by its crew, not all sailors are accounted for. Indian Navy is responding to the distress call.
Three crew members were missing from the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier True Confidence and four others have been badly burned after the vessel was damaged off Yemen on Wednesday, ashipping source said on Wednesday.
A British monitoring agency had reported earlier that a merchant vessel had been damaged in an attack south of Yemen and coalition forces were supporting it. The ship’s owner said it had been hit by a missile presumed to have come from Yemen’s Houthi militants.
The shipping source, who declined to be identified, said the vessel appeared to have been abandoned.
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Also, the USS Carney came under missile and drone attack, but the crew successfully intercepted them.
Full text
On March 5, between the hours of 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces shot down one anti-ship ballistic missile and three one-way attack unmanned aerial systems launched from Iranian-backed Houthi controlled areas of Yemen toward USS Carney (DDG 64) in the Red Sea. There are no injuries or damage to the ship.
Later between 8:45 p.m. and 9:40 p.m., CENTCOM forces destroyed three anti-ship missiles and three unmanned surface vessels(USV) in self-defense. The missiles and USVs were located in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
CENTCOM forces identified the missiles, UAVs, and USVs and determined that they presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and to the U.S. Navy ships in the region. These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels.
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