British oil and gas company Shell has suspended shipments through the Red Sea indefinitely due to fears of further escalation following US and British strikes on Yemen's Houthis. The newspaper reported this on January 16 The Wall Street Journal with reference to sources.
According to them, last month a tanker chartered by the company was attacked by a drone in the Red Sea, as well as harassed by the Houthis. After this incident, Shell decided last week to stop transit through this water area.
It is clarified that the measure is due to the company’s concern for the safety of ship crews, as well as the possibility of a large-scale oil spill as a result of subsequent attacks.
Shell representatives declined to comment to the publication on this topic.
Earlier in the day, the British Navy reported a new attack on a ship off the coast of Yemen, 100 km northwest of Salif.
Before this, it became known that a closed meeting of the UN Security Council on the situation in Yemen would take place on January 16. Although it is monthly, it is also expected to discuss US and UK strikes against targets in the country.
The Houthis began attacking shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden from November 2023 to protest Israeli actions in the Gaza Strip. On the night of January 12, the United States and Great Britain launched an attack on Houthi targets. The White House said the attack, carried out in movement-controlled areas of the country, was defensive in nature. It was also claimed at the time that the strikes were to protect international courts.
A repeated US attack on Houthi positions in Yemen became known on January 13. The Pentagon called the Houthi radar the target of new strikes on Yemen. US President Joe Biden said at the time that the coalition had taken necessary and proportionate measures in accordance with international law and the UN Charter.
After this, the deputy foreign minister in the government of the Ansar Allah group, Hussein al-Ezzi, said that the United States and Great Britain would pay for the attack.
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