Tag: MaritimeSecurity
Maritime Trade Enters the Age of Armed Passage
The modern maritime order is designed to separate a ship's right of passage from the nationality of its owner, the origin of its cargo and the political allegiance of its customer. Across several of the world's most important sea lanes, that separation is beginning to break down.Iran is seeking payments…
Drone Strikes Reported at Egypt’s Damietta LNG Terminal
Drone strikes reportedly set fire to two liquefied-natural-gas vessels at Egypt's Damietta Port on Wednesday, raising the possibility that the 2026 Iran war has reached Egyptian territory for the first time.British maritime-security firm Ambrey told the Associated Press that drones ignited fires aboard a U.S.-owned floating storage and regasification unit…
Saudi Arabia Is Being Pulled Back Into Yemen’s War
Saudi Arabia spent years trying to extract itself from the war in Yemen. That strategy is now under mounting pressure.Since mid-July, Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have resumed attacks on Saudi territory and shipping, declared a naval blockade against the kingdom and targeted oil infrastructure along the Red Sea coast. Forces aligned…
Iran Rejects Oman’s Hormuz Strait Plan
Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi rejected Oman's proposal for joint management of the Strait of Hormuz, saying on Iranian state television that it failed to address Tehran's security concerns, according to IranWire. Oman had proposed splitting the shipping lane evenly, with half under Iranian control and half under Omani…
Houthis Target Saudi Tanker as China Talks Safe Passage
Yemen's Houthis said Tuesday they fired ballistic missiles at the Saudi-flagged tanker NCC Ghazal in the Red Sea, alleging it had ignored blockade warnings, and claimed the missiles forced it to reverse course, according to Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree. The tanker had last shown on AIS tracking near Yanbu,…
Four Countries Protest Russia Over War’s Fallout
Over the past ten days, Russia has drawn formal diplomatic protests from three countries with little in common except geography, India, Azerbaijan, and Botswana, plus a fourth incident involving Romania that Bucharest has linked to Moscow's war. Read together, the four episodes trace back to three distinct features of how…
Taiwan Expands China War Drills Beyond Battlefield
Taiwan is expanding its annual war games to test whether the island's factories, supply routes and communications networks can keep functioning during a Chinese attack, adding new industrial and civilian resilience measures to next month's Han Kuang exercises.The August 5–14 drills will simulate Beijing using what appears to be a…
U.S. Boat Strikes Fail to Dent Cocaine Supply
Since September, U.S. forces have attacked at least 67 suspected drug-trafficking vessels and killed at least 221 people under Operation Southern Spear. Yet internal assessments by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Pentagon officials found that the campaign has not reduced the price, availability or purity of cocaine in the United…
China–Philippines Sea Clashes Escalate in Days
Chinese and Philippine forces were involved in three confrontations at two disputed South China Sea shoals between July 20 and 24, leaving two Philippine personnel injured and government vessels exposed to water cannons and dangerous close manoeuvres.None of the incidents crossed into armed conflict. Their frequency and increasingly physical character,…
Most Ships Risking Hormuz Take Iran’s Route
Commercial traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen roughly 70% since fighting resumed, and the ships still crossing overwhelmingly favor the route Iran designates over an alternative corridor backed by the United States.Crossings dropped from about 45 a day during the June 7–July 7 truce to around 13, according…
