THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — The Galaxy Leader was en route to India from Turkey to collect a load of cars when it was boarded by Houthi rebels last month and taken by force to the port of Hodeidah in Northern Yemen.
Posts on social media show the cargo ship is now being used as a sort of tourist destination, with visitors taking selfies and walking over the Israeli flag.
“The Yemeni armed forces reiterate their warning to all ships belonging to or dealing with the Israeli enemy that they will become a legitimate target for armed forces,” Yahya Sare'e, the spokesperson for the Iran-backed group, said in a statement when the ship was seized.
The organization, which calls itself the Yemeni Armed Forces, has since attacked multiple ships traveling through the Red Sea, including a U.S. Navy destroyer.
The Houthis — an Islamist political and military organization — have been fighting for control of Yemen since 2014. Since the outbreak of the conflict between Israel and Hamas in October, the group has escalated attacks on vessels it claims are connected to Israel.
“This isn’t a blockade, it’s just conducting attacks on foreign-flagged vessels,” Phillip Drew, a professor of law at Queen’s University and a leading expert on naval blockades, told Courthouse News in an interview.
The Houthis say that until Israel stops attacks on Gaza, they will continue to prevent ships with a connection to Israel from traveling through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the narrow passage between Yemen and Somalia.
Naval blockades are legal in warfare, but only under certain conditions, according to Drew. A state can declare a blockade during an international armed conflict, essential war between two countries. Countries have to give notice that it is blockading an area, like the public announcement Israel made in 2013 declaring a blockade of Gaza.
To be legal, blockades also have to be complete, according to Drew.
“Nothing comes in, nothing goes out,” he says; however the Houthis have said repeatedly that they are only attacking ships with a connection to Israel.
Although the Houthis control territory in Yemen, they are still considered a non-state actor. According to Tamsin Paige, a senior lecturer at Deakin Law School, the group could be recognized as a formal party to an international conflict if Israel classified the Houthis as “belligerents.”
But, Paige said in an interview with Courthouse News, that would grant the group other legal benefits that would be politically unpalatable.
Under international maritime law, a country’s territory extends to 12 nautical miles (14 miles) from its coast. Vessels travelling one of the world’s busiest shipping routes typically stay outside of territorial waters, and the attacks have taken place mostly in international waters.
Within territorial waters, Yemen would have the authority to deal with any attacks. Beyond that boundary, the problem becomes an international one.
According to Paige, the attacks could legally be considered either piracy or terrorism.
“Piracy,” she said, “is clearly defined in law, whereas terrorism is more nebulous.”
In either case, the prosecution of the attacks would be the responsibility of whatever country was able to apprehend the perpetrators.
The hijacking of the Galaxy Leader could be resolved at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, based in Hamburg, Germany. The tribunal, which has jurisdiction over disputes that fall under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, could order the Houthis to return the ship if judges conclude it was illegally seized.
Filing a complaint, however, would formally recognize the Houthis as belligerents. “This simply isn’t going to end up in international court,” Paige said.
The rebel group claimed the Galaxy Leader was owned by an Israeli, but it turned out to be owned by a British company and managed by a Japanese firm. None of the 25 crew members, all of whom are being held in Yemen, were Israeli nationals.
The attacks likely will affect the cost of shipping insurance, says Jakob Larsen, head of maritime safety and security at shipping association BIMCO. He told Courthouse News there are indications that vessels with an Israeli affiliation have already seen an increase in rates.
Ships from other nations will also pay more. The Houthis have misidentified at least one ship already, and insurers will take that into account, according to Larsen, though he says price increases won’t be significant: “I think for the consumer it won’t be that noticeable.”
The French defense ministry said on Tuesday that a French ship intercepted a drone targeting a Norwegian oil carrier in the Red Sea. In a statement, the group’s spokesperson said it will continue to target ships until “they bring in the food and medicine that our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip need.”
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