Mega yacht in danger: This is how a sheikh protected himself in the Suez Canal

seafaring
Mega yacht in danger: This is how a sheikh protected his ship from Houthi missiles in the Suez Canal

Yachts also have a hard time: attacks by the Houthi militia make the Suez Canal a restricted zone for many. Remaining yachts, tankers and container giants are now using a common trick for passage.

The situation in the Red Sea is life-threatening for many ships. Passage traffic in the economically important Suez Canal has fallen by 75 percent. The reason: The Houthis in Yemen shoot everything they consider to be the enemy. Merchant ships belonging to Western shipping companies that are perceived as allies of Israel are particularly targeted. The Hamburg shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, MSC and the Danish Maersk Group completely avoid trips through the important connection to the Mediterranean and prefer to sail around the southern tip of Africa, which is actually a gigantic detour of several thousand kilometers. This not only costs time, but also a lot of money.

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But not everyone has to consider an alternative, for example to travel from the Greek coast to the Maldives. One example is the mega-yacht “Elements” owned by Saudi Arabian billionaire Fahad Mohammed Saleh al Athel.

Mega yacht sent manipulated destination

During a voyage from Perama to Malé, the crew of his ship used a surprisingly simple trick. The ship sent a message to the world using the so-called “automatic identification system” (“AIS”), which normally publicly displays the current position and destination of the voyage. During the passage and in the Red Sea, the “Elements” stated that it wanted to go to “No Israel Connection”. Of course, this is not a goal, but a clear message. “Don’t shoot,” it could have been.

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Because the Houthis make exceptions: Anyone who travels for allies, belongs to China or otherwise has nothing to do with the militia’s enemies can travel through the canal unmolested. The sheikh’s plan obviously worked: the “Elements” is currently moored off Malé, the capital of the Maldives. The registered destination also corresponds to a real port.

Ships vie for mercy from the Houthis

It’s not just the “Elements” that uses this trick. A look at the current traffic in the Suez Canal reveals that there is a whole range of such messages to potential attackers. Some ships send messages like “Armed Guard on Board”, while others say “All Crew Syrian”, “Turkish Crew” or “All Chinese Crew”. References also continue to be made to the Houthi arch-enemy Israel. Sometimes it simply means “No Israel”, “No related to Israel” (Errors in the original, i.e. Red.) or “Not with Israel”.

Of course, there is also a bit of hope on board these ships, because it will not always be easy for the rebels on land to check the truth of the news. The short code is unlikely to stop the Houthis from taking an aggressive position.

It is currently unclear when all ships will be able to sail through the Suez Canal again. Western military formations, especially the USA and Great Britain, have begun to attack Houthi positions and depots, but recently it was said that the protection mission in the Red Sea was going poorly (find out more here). Germany is currently on site with the frigate “Hessen”. It is said that this is the most dangerous naval mission in the history of the Bundeswehr.