The Iran-backed Houthi insurgents of Yemen claimed responsibility for a murderous “double tap” strike on a ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, using three ballistic missiles to set the ship on fire — and then launching another missile in a deliberate attack on rescue teams, killing at least six people.
German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd said on Sunday that chaos is the “new normal” in the Strait of Hormuz, with the constant threat of Iranian attacks looming, even though the regime in Tehran supposedly agreed to reopen the strait in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it signed with the United States.
The United Nations on Thursday suspended its evacuation plan for ships stranded in the Persian Gulf after a cargo ship was struck by a “projectile” as it exited the Strait of Hormuz.
The foreign ministries of Iran and Oman issued a joint statement on Tuesday announcing the formation of a “Strait of Hormuz Committee.”
Tamura Jotaro, CEO of Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), predicted that it will take “at least a couple of weeks, or if not a month” for shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to return to pre-war levels.
Iranian lawmaker Somayeh Rafiei told the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) on Thursday that her colleagues are considering a plan to impose tolls on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has been blockading by launching wanton attacks on international shipping since the beginning of Operation Epic Fury.
Rep. Andy Biggs is introducing a House resolution denouncing a U.N. plan that would establish a global tax on maritime shipping emissions, warning that it would undermine American sovereignty.
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) is meeting in London to vote on new rules to cut “greenhouse gases” by imposing a first-ever global tax on shipping emissions.
