Yemen's Houthis Threaten Renewed Maritime Campaign
Yemen's Houthi movement announced on February 28, 2026, that it would resume missile and drone attacks on US and Israeli-flagged ships in the Red Sea corridor, following the coordinated US-Israeli military strikes on Iran. Senior Houthi officials confirmed through Yemeni media that renewed attacks could begin imminently and would target shipping routes previously struck during the group's 2024-2025 campaign in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The announcement creates an unprecedented dual chokepoint crisis, with both the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait now effectively closed or threatened.
The Houthis had paused large-scale maritime attacks in mid-November 2025 following a regional de-escalation linked to a Gaza ceasefire. From approximately November 11, 2025, until late February 2026, there were no sustained, confirmed missile or drone attacks against merchant vessels. This pause had encouraged major container lines including Maersk and CMA CGM to resume scheduled services through the Red Sea with naval support in January 2026.
Container Lines Face Dual Route Closure
The resumption of Houthi threats creates an extraordinary situation where container shipping has effectively lost access to both major east-west transit corridors simultaneously. Carriers that had just returned to the Suez Canal route are now forced back to the Cape of Good Hope routing, while simultaneously losing access to the Persian Gulf via Hormuz. This dual disruption is without precedent in modern container shipping history.
Maersk immediately withdrew several voyages from the Red Sea corridor amid the deteriorating security situation, reversing its January decision to resume Suez transit. CMA CGM similarly instructed vessels to divert around Africa. The combined impact of Hormuz closure and Red Sea threats means that container services connecting Asia to Europe and the Middle East face maximum possible disruption, with no shortened routing option available.
War Risk Implications Compound
Insurance markets, already reeling from the Hormuz crisis, now face expanded geographic risk coverage demands. War risk premiums for Red Sea transit had only recently begun normalizing from their 2024 peaks. The Houthi announcement immediately reversed that trend, with underwriters reported to be reassessing all Gulf of Aden and Red Sea coverage terms.
The UN Security Council recently adopted Resolution 2812, extending reporting requirements on Houthi attacks for six months, indicating international recognition that the Red Sea threat remains persistent. Military analysts note the Houthis retained their drone and missile capabilities throughout the ceasefire pause and can likely resume attacks at previous intensity levels with minimal preparation time.
For global shipping, the dual chokepoint crisis represents the worst-case scenario that maritime strategists had theorized but never expected to materialize simultaneously. The industry now faces a reality where the two fastest routes between Asia and Europe are both compromised, forcing all traffic onto the longest possible routing around Africa.
