Situation in the Red Sea (Houthi Thread)

NordStream has clarified the need for everyone to have redundant streams of supply and multiple customers. One never knows when the aliens are going to blow up your stuff and blame your vendor. Rest of World (some of them pretty smart) are watching western Europe de-industrialize itself and watching Russia hustle up new contracts.

Thanks for excellent commentary on this thread. Interesting stuff.
 
The Saudis like many other developing world countries now view the US as a setting power. The younger generation of Saudis travel and do business in China, they see the difference between cities like Shenzen, Shanghai or Beijing and western cities like London, Paris or NYC which are in social and physical decline. China has become their main trading partner, by far, and the gap will widen as China fills new niches like autos or passenger jets. As well, there is a long history of trade between east and west Asia that goes back to the Middle Ages, which is being revived. Saudi Arabia has made the teaching of Mandarin mandatory in their school system.

Saudi-China-trade.jpg


Going forward, China is the world's largest importer of oil, and the largest exporter of manufactured goods by a wide margin.

China will first come into the Middle East through trade, investments and currency moves. Down the road, you might see more direct military involvement of China (and Russia) in the region, starting with weapon purchases. The transition won't be instantaneous, but it will take place this decade. At some point down the road, China will start asserting itself on the global monetary scene by pegging its currency to gold and revealing the extent of its gold reserves, which might be greater than 30,000T, 5 to 10 times larger than US gold reserves, which are claimed to be around 8,000T but have never been audited.




Only if they carry over their oil from Arabia by rickshaw... the cost of shipping oil via tankers from the Persian Gulf to Hong Kong is around $4/barrel, you're off by a factor of 10 here.

China is not the west, does not matter how strong their economy is or what business opportunities are there. They will not welcome foreigners unless they have something to gain from it, they only play ball at their advantage. All countries who deal with China know this, they know they won't get anywhere long term with China. That isn't an endorsement of the west it is simple reality do the situation.
 
The Saudis seem to abstain


Also the Devil is in the details, as usual. The coalition of 20 or whatever countries is not as formidable a force as one might think.

Other NATO allies are not even sending ships. Norway's participation is limited to 10 naval officers, seconded to the the CMF headquarters in Bahrain. The Netherlands is sending two staff officers and Denmark just one.
 
All Ansarallah attacks yesterday were neutralized.

interesting tweet. The „coalition“ can no doubt defend itself from missile attacks. The question is with what and for how long. Andrew Martyanov talked about this in one of his recent videos.

the air defense systems can be easily exhausted by missile salvos from the coast and the Houthis can certainly replenish their stocks faster and at a fraction of US costs.

Starting at 15:35

 
interesting tweet. The „coalition“ can no doubt defend itself from missile attacks. The question is with what and for how long. Andrew Martyanov talked about this in one of his recent videos.

the air defense systems can be easily exhausted by missile salvos from the coast and the Houthis can certainly replenish their stocks faster and at a fraction of US costs.

Starting at 15:35


Yea, Scott Ritter was talking about the limitation of how many of these defense system missiles our ships have, and how long it takes to replace them, and then the cost of our missiles v. the cost of their missiles.

At this point, time is on the side of the Iranian rebels. They are winning the battle of attrition. And they are slowly winning over the hearts and minds of the citizens of the satanic west. The USA is scared to get involved directly, and at the same time, they can't sit on the sidelines and wait forever. They need Israel to hurry up and finish their attempted genocide, but it appears Israel has stepped into a trap.

Just in time for the world's best salesman, who is only full of BS, to win in 2024 and try to rebuild our military with our good men signing back up again. We must make sure to spread the word to keep good men from signing up for our military to fight in satan's army.
 
Yea, Scott Ritter was talking about the limitation of how many of these defense system missiles our ships have, and how long it takes to replace them, and then the cost of our missiles v. the cost of their missiles.

One factor in this is that munitions have a shelf life, especially in the United States (not for nothing, that's why most of our stuff works and most older Soviet-era stuff...fifty/fifty). Hopefully, someone in logistics is intelligent enough to start cycling SM2s and such that are towards the end of their service life to this region where they can expended for some good versus being returned to LockMart or Raytheon to be dismantled and decommissioned.

This does make an excellent case for LASERs and directed-energy weapons.

Long Beach-style CGN + LASER/DE defense system = minimal cost-per-round/shot equivalent
 
How much tax dollars did we waste moving our out of date navy to the Red Sea, to end up having them sitting there with their thumbs up their butt? LOL, how demoralizing for them.


Our Navy already patrols that area...so I'm doubtful there was additional costs for the deployment beyond the hazard pay the sailors are getting.

I assure you....zero sailors give a hoot.

The theater commander might be dinged... But no one on any of the naval fleet is demoralized because a ship was hit.

What's more problematic is....I'm still not sure why this is funny to you that you lol every time the houthis attack a non military vessel.
 
Our Navy already patrols that area...so I'm doubtful there was additional costs for the deployment beyond the hazard pay the sailors are getting.

I assure you....zero sailors give a hoot.

The theater commander might be dinged... But no one on any of the naval fleet is demoralized because a ship was hit.

What's more problematic is....I'm still not sure why this is funny to you that you lol every time the houthis attack a non military vessel.
We moved large vessels to the area, that wasn't cheap. All to sit there and watch the Houthi's continue their attack.

How do you not get what is funny about it? The satanic elites are being crushed by these rag tag rebels in Yemen and so far, they don't have an answer for it. This of course, after they tried to starve their children and kill them out. What goes around, comes around.
 
Flare up in the Red Sea - "Maersk Hangzhou" (en route from Singapore to Egypt, sailing under the flag of Singapore) came under a 2 stage attack (first a missile strike, then attempted boarding). US forces intervened and opened fire on the Houthis.

Full text
USS GRAVELY shoots down two anti-ship ballistic missiles while responding to Houthi attack on merchant vessel.
Today at approximately 8:30 p.m. (Sanaa time), the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU reported that they were struck by a missile while transiting the Southern Red Sea. The Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned/operated container ship requested assistance, and the USS GRAVELY (DDG 107) and USS LABOON (DDG 58) have responded to the ship. The vessel is reportedly seaworthy and there are no reported injuries.
While responding, the USS GRAVELY shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the ships.
This is the 23rd illegal attack by the Houthis on international shipping since Nov. 19.


Full text
Iranian-backed Houthi small boats attack merchant vessel and U.S. Navy helicopters in Southern Red Sea.
On Dec. 31 at 6:30am (Sanaa time) the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours reporting being under attack by four Iranian-backed Houthi small boats. The small boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, fired crew served and small arms weapons at the MAERSK HANGZHOU, getting to within 20 meters of the vessel, and attempted to board the vessel. A contract embarked security team on the MAERSK HANZGHOU returned fire.
U.S. helicopters from the USS EISENHOWER (CVN 69) and GRAVELY (DDG 107) responded to the distress call and in the process of issuing verbal calls to the small boats, the small boats fired upon the U.S. helicopters with crew served weapons and small arms. The U.S. Navy helicopters returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats, and killing the crews. The fourth boat fled the area. There was no damage to U.S. personnel or equipment.



As a result, the Moller-Maersk shipping company had to put on hold their plans to resume sailing through the Red Sea.
 
Well, in their attack on the Maersk Hangzhou Houthis not only got in a firefight with the ship's security team, but also opened fire on a US helicopter so one should expect some kind of a retaliation.

I have a gut feeling that it was probably the other way around.

Official Ansarallah statement.

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Allah Almighty says: "Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory."

This is the Truth of Allah Almighty.

While the Naval Forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces were carrying out their routine official duties in reinforcing security and stability and protecting maritime navigation, in addition fulfilling their humanitarian and ethical duty declared by Yemen in prohibiting "israeli" ships or those heading to the ports of occupied Palestine from passing through the Red Sea in solidarity and support of the Palestinian people, the American enemy forces attacked three boats belonging to the Yemeni Naval Forces, resulting in the martyrdom and loss of ten naval personnel.

As the Yemeni Armed Forces exalt these martyrs for the sake of Palestine in the midst of the support battle for Al-Aqsa Flood, affirm that the American enemy bears the consequences and repercussions of this crime, and that its military movements in the Red Sea to protect "israeli" ships will not prevent Yemen from fulfilling its religious, ethical, and humanitarian duty in support and aid of the oppressed in Palestine and Gaza.

We also urge other nations not to engage in the dangerous American course, which will have negative repercussions that could affect everyone.

In another context, by the grace of Allah, the Yemeni Naval Forces successfully executed a military operation targeting the container ship "Maersk Hangzhou," which was headed to the ports of occupied Palestine, using appropriate naval missiles.

This targeting operation followed the refusal of the ship's crew to respond to the warning calls of the Yemeni Naval Forces.

The Yemeni Armed Forces reiterate their previous statements regarding the prevention of all "israeli" ships or those headed to the ports of occupied Palestine from passing, while maintaining complete care for maritime navigation to all destinations except for the "israeli" entity.

The Yemeni Armed Forces renew their advice to all countries not to be drawn into American plans aimed at igniting conflict in the Red Sea and affirm that they will not hesitate to confront any aggression against our country and our people.

The Yemeni Armed Forces call upon our great Yemeni people and all the free people of our Arab and Islamic nation to be highly vigilant and prepared for all options in the face of the American escalation that supports the criminal zionist entity and encourages it to commit more crimes against our brothers in Gaza.

Sanaa, 18 Jumada Al-Akhir 1445 Hijri
Corresponding to 31 December 2023.
 
Updates from the past few days on force build-up in the area.

Denmark to deploy a warship as part of the OPG.
The Danish frigate is expected to join Operation Prosperity Guardian (OPG) in late January, pending approval by the Danish Parliament. The naval coalition was established by the U.S. earlier this month and aims to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Denmark was notably absent from the list of 10 countries that had initially signed-up for the operation, but it is part of the existing US-led multi-national maritime coalition known as Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) under which OPG falls. Currently, Denmark contributes three staff officers to CMF, including one staff officer assigned to OPG



India and Indonesia will send warships, but under national command - not as part of the OPG.




Warships operating in the area.
 
I'm not sure what this "attack" includes. I read one place "shots were exchanged". Probably just popping some rifle rounds off at each other, in a game of chicken.

 
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