In recent days, Houthi attacks have targeted two ships: the first, Veribena, owned by Ukraine and carrying Malaysian timber, and the second, Totor, which was carrying coal and is owned by Greece. They also attempted to target a ship carrying dates yesterday, but it successfully continued its journey through the Red Sea. Notably, the new aspect of the Totor attack was the successful use of a remotely controlled maritime drone by the Iran-backed Houthi group for the first time, as confirmed by some analysts. This could represent a way for the Houthis to circumvent U.S.-led efforts to counter and strike the missiles and drones used by the group against ships in the Red Sea, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Furthermore, the British security company "Ambrey" confirmed in a client memo that the loss of two ships within days "represents a significant increase in the effectiveness" of the Houthis. It also clarified that the attack on Totor is the first instance where the Yemeni group successfully used a maritime drone instead of missiles and conventional drones.
In Djibouti and Lebanon, Western officials revealed that, despite some setbacks, referring to U.S. strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen, the Houthis have managed to find new or alternative pathways to bring in the equipment they need from Iran. They added that instead of directly obtaining weapons from Iran, the Houthis have found a new route through Djibouti, located in East Africa, where weapons arriving from Iranian ports are transferred to civilian vessels. They also noted that the Houthi group uses Lebanon as a center for purchasing spare parts for drones from China.
