A spate of attacks on merchant shipping near Yemen and Somalia, likely triggered by the war in Gaza, have prompted the US to warn vessel operators to be extra careful when navigating the region.
On Nov. 19, Houthis seized of the Galaxy Leader car carrier while a Liberia-flagged chemicals tanker was targeted over the weekend. Both have an Israeli connection. At the same time, there have also been at least four other suspicious approaches to ships in the Indian Ocean in the past few weeks — many of them taking place in the Red Sea or the Gulf of Aden — according to the UK navy.