Lloyd's List: 'Yemen risk assessment: Direct threat to shipping remains low but collateral damage hazards remain'
Source: Lloyd’s List / Picture featuring the map of Yemen with its capital Sanaa pinpointed
Lloyd’s List data reporter Bridget Diakun interviewed Risk Intelligence MENA analyst Kais Makhlouf for a Yemen risk assessment article in which Makhlouf explained the status of the conflict in Yemen and its potential impact on maritime shipping.
30 January 2023
During the recent interview for Lloyd's List, MENA analyst Kais Makhlouf had the chance to share his thoughts on the current situation in Yemen, and the implications for maritime shipping in the wider area. While reflecting on the negotiations between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebel group, Makhlouf said: "As long as the Houthis believe that current negotiations can lead to a beneficial outcome, we believe they will refrain from striking shipping".
Bridget Diakun underlined in the article that Houthis are carefully choosing their targets, given their ambition to project to the international community how they are more than "rogue, non-state actors". Further, Makhlouf developed on the rebel group targeting port infrastructure through drone attacks in the end of last year, and said: "This is because this commercial war is not about deterring trade, but about controlling it, […] they want to force the industry to trade through them."
While providing an outlook for the future, Makhlouf touched upon other potential instability that the maritime industry should consider in Yemen, namely "an intensifying 'commercial war' for control of what's left: the southern coast ports and the oil-producing hinterlands". Additionally, he mentions: “This could evolve into the next main source of threats to shipping out of Yemen.“
Read the article in full here (paywall).
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