Houthis Killed By US Navy In Botched Pirate Mission
Well, they had it coming.
Four small boats full of armed, irascible Houthis decided to open fire on US helicopters while trying to hijack a container ship in the Red Sea on Sunday.
I guess I don't have to tell you how that ended, but... well, three of the boats were destroyed along with their respective crews. The other one "fled the area," as US Central Command put it.
The Houthis were after the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned vessel. On Saturday, they hit it with a proje
The resemblance of this (actual) battle to one of the (fictional) battles in “The Oceans and the Stars” by Mark Helprin is uncanny. This is an engaging adventure story about a protagonist who is honorable, intelligent and brave. Highly recommend.
Maybe Oscar Wilde was correct when he asserted that Life imitates Art……
It’s sickening that Maersk chooses to send ships through there. They’ve obviously just made a simple business decision, that the increased cost of insurance is less than the increased cost of fuel and time of going the long way. The only way that equation comes out positive though is if you place a $0 value on the increased risk to the crew.
This exact moral issue is addressed in the book that I mentioned above.
When did you turn into a Sea Turtle Mr/s Emptynester?
A shipper that diverts cargoes around Africa can impose additional charges to cover the cost. They cite “severe operational disruption” and declare a “transit disruption surcharge”. Maersk and others have done this.
Diverting cargoes around Africa is actually favorable for shipping companies as it increases fees and utilization, and indeed shipping stocks have risen on the Houthi disruption.
The increased risk to crew of going through the Red Sea is minimal, based on the crew toll, or lack of same, so far.
Those unilateral and continuing oil production cuts by MBS are looking a little short-sighted now that he needs something from us. Maybe Jared can “help.”
And in what world would we make private profit-maximizing capital pay for public defense and assistance?