Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels yesterday said that they would not halt attacks on Red Sea shipping despite the announcement by the US of a new maritime protection force.
“Even if America succeeds in mobilizing the entire world, our military operations will not stop ... no matter the sacrifices it costs us,” senior Houthi official Mohammed al-Bukhaiti wrote on social media.
He said the rebels would only halt their attacks if Israel’s “crimes in Gaza stop and food, medicines and fuel are allowed to reach its besieged population.”
Photo: Reuters/ Houthi Military Media
He spoke after US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Monday announced a 10-nation coalition to quell Houthi missile and drone attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea, with Britain, France, Bahrain and Italy among the nations joining the “multinational security initiative.”
“Countries that seek to uphold the foundational principle of freedom of navigation must come together to tackle the challenge posed by this non-state actor,” Austin said in a statement.
The security coalition would operate “with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity,” it said.
It includes the US, UK, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, Austin said.
The Houthi rebels earlier said that they had attacked two “Israeli-linked” vessels in the Red Sea in solidarity with Gaza, as more companies halt transit through the troubled, but vital waterway.
The attacks on the Norwegian-owned Swan Atlantic and another ship identified by the Houthis as the MSC Clara are the latest in a flurry of maritime incidents that are disrupting global trade in an attempt to pressure Israel over its war against Hamas.
Taiwan’s three largest cargo container shipping firms on Monday announced a suspension of sailings through the Red Sea.
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) and Wan Hai Lines Ltd (萬海航運) followed international shipping counterparts in diverting or canceling passages of the high-risk maritime area.
In a statement, Evergreen Marine said it has temporarily stopped accepting any Israel-bound cargo and suspended its shipping service to Israel until further notification.
Evergreen Marine said ships on regional services to Red Sea ports would sail to safe waters nearby, pending a decision on whether to adjust the ports of call on the services.
On long-haul routes connecting Asia to the Mediterranean, Europe and the east coast of the US, Evergreen Marine said that its cargo ships scheduled to pass through the Red Sea would be rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope.
Meanwhile, Yang Ming Marine said in an online advisory that ships sailing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden or due to pass through the area in the next two weeks would be diverted around the Cape of Good Hope or temporarily anchored at a safe location.
Wan Hai Lines also announced the suspension of services through the Red Sea, saying in a statement that vessels in the area would sail to safe waters until further notice. It added that vessels bound for the east coast of the US would be rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope.
Additional reporting by CNA
UNITED: The premier said Trump’s tariff comments provided a great opportunity for the private and public sectors to come together to maintain the nation’s chip advantage The government is considering ways to assist the nation’s semiconductor industry or hosting collaborative projects with the private sector after US President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on chips exported to the US, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. Trump on Monday told Republican members of the US Congress about plans to impose sweeping tariffs on semiconductors, steel, aluminum, copper and pharmaceuticals “in the very near future.” “It’s time for the United States to return to the system that made us richer and more powerful than ever before,” Trump said at the Republican Issues Conference in Miami, Florida. “They
GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY: Taiwan must capitalize on the shock waves DeepSeek has sent through US markets to show it is a tech partner of Washington, a researcher said China’s reported breakthrough in artificial intelligence (AI) would prompt the US to seek a stronger alliance with Taiwan and Japan to secure its technological superiority, a Taiwanese researcher said yesterday. The launch of low-cost AI model DeepSeek (深度求索) on Monday sent US tech stocks tumbling, with chipmaker Nvidia Corp losing 16 percent of its value and the NASDAQ falling 612.46 points, or 3.07 percent, to close at 19,341.84 points. On the same day, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Sector index dropped 488.7 points, or 9.15 percent, to close at 4,853.24 points. The launch of the Chinese chatbot proves that a competitor can
TAIWAN DEFENSE: The initiative would involve integrating various systems in a fast-paced manner through the use of common software to obstruct a Chinese invasion The first tranche of the US Navy’s “Replicator” initiative aimed at obstructing a Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be ready by August, a US Naval Institute (USNI) News report on Tuesday said. The initiative is part of a larger defense strategy for Taiwan, and would involve launching thousands of uncrewed submarines, surface vessels and aerial vehicles around Taiwan to buy the nation and its partners time to assemble a response. The plan was first made public by the Washington Post in June last year, when it cited comments by US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue
MARITIME SECURITY: Of the 52 vessels, 15 were rated a ‘threat’ for various reasons, including the amount of time they spent loitering near subsea cables, the CGA said Taiwan has identified 52 “suspicious” Chinese-owned ships flying flags of convenience that require close monitoring if detected near the nation, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday, as the nation seeks to protect its subsea telecoms cables. The stricter regime comes after a Cameroon-flagged vessel was briefly detained by the CGA earlier this month on suspicion of damaging an international cable northeast of Taiwan. The vessel is owned by a Hong Kong-registered company with a Chinese address given for its only listed director, the CGA said previously. Taiwan fears China could sever its communication links as part of an attempt
RSS