Red Sea peace tied to Gaza ceasefire, Houthis warn

Suez Canal traffic still well below pre-attack levels

Cape daily transits average at 66 cargo ships

Almost two years after the first attacks in the Red Sea, Yemen’s Houthi rebel group has indicated that it has stopped targeting commercial vessels transiting the waterway.

However, the group has warned that it could resume attacks if Israel violates the Gaza ceasefire, according to a letter from Houthi leader Yusuf Al-Madani.

“We are closely monitoring developments and announce that if the enemy resumes its aggression against Gaza, we will return to our military operations deep in the Zionist entity and will reimpose the ban on Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas,” Al-Madani wrote.

Shortly before the letter was issued, CMA CGM-operated container ship, CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, transited the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on 8 November, passing through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.

The 177,000-dwt vessel was the “largest containership to transit the canal in two years,” according to the Suez Canal Authority (SCA). It was also the ship’s first passage through the canal since 22 October 2023, after the first Houthi attacks escalated regional tensions, the SCA added.

“Positive indicators point towards the return of giant container ships to transit through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal once again, in light of the restoration of stability to the region,” the SCA said.

Maritime security firm Ambrey has since downgraded its risk assessment for some vessels transiting the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to “tolerable levels”, following a re-evaluation of the situation. However, Ambrey noted that the lower risk applies only to certain operators for now.

The firm also reported no Houthi-related attacks on commercial vessels in the area since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire on 10 October 2025.

Red Sea route yet to recover

Yemen’s Houthi rebel group started attacking commercial ships transiting the southern Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait between Yemen and East Africa in November 2023.

Following the attacks, several major container lines and tanker operators diverted their vessels around the Cape of Good Hope, avoiding the shorter Red Sea route to minimise exposure to security risks.

Traffic through the Suez Canal has since fallen sharply.

The Suez Canal route handled an average of 23 cargo ships/day and 11 tankers/day over the past month. This is less than half of the 51 cargo and 25 tanker ships/day seen during the same period in 2023, according to the IMF’s PortWatch platform.

In contrast, traffic around the Cape of Good Hope has surged. Average daily transits have climbed to 66 cargo ships and 16 tankers/day over the past month, up from 39 cargo and 10 tankers/day in the corresponding period of 2023, before the disruptions began.

By Konica Bhatt

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