You've heard of the Grinch, but what about the Houthis? Yemeni Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have been targeting massive ships in the Red Sea with drones and missiles since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Now, a bunch of shipping companies like Maersk—which had a ship attacked by Houthis last week—are avoiding the Suez Canal and diverting their ships around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope.
"Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar" last Thursday "and yet another attack on a container vessel" one day later, "we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice," reads a press release from the company.
