Shipping associations have welcomed the European Union’s operation Aspides, a defensive maritime security operation to protect shipping in the Red Sea.
Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder, but few observers would describe the widening chasm that has opened between western and some Middle Eastern interests in the Red Sea as objectively attractive.
Seafarers covered by International Bargaining Forum (IBF) agreements can refuse to sail through the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, but it takes a high level of pre-planning according to ITF head Stephen Cotton.
US Central Command (Centcom) announced its latest success in capturing arms destined for the Houthi Movement, however, attacks continue with a strike against a Greek ship on 15 February.
Over 50 vessels attacked by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, thousands of ships diverted via the Cape of Good Hope, and billions of dollars of trade disrupted in the Red Sea crisis.