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Israeli Shipping Company Sees Soaring Profits Because — Not in Spite — of Houthi Red Sea Attacks
Explosions take place on the deck of the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion on the Red Sea, in this handout picture released Aug. 29, 2024. Photo: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS
A major Israeli shipping company is experiencing a surge in profits for a surprising reason: Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea.
ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, which has been traded on the New York Stock Exchange since 2021, achieved a 48 percent year-over-year revenue increase in the second quarter of this year to $1.93 billion.
And it’s not just revenue that has increased. Its net income rose to $373 million and its carry volume has risen 11 percent.
This all occurred amid rising tensions in the Middle East that began after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking another 251 hostage.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia, a US-designated terrorist organization, began disrupting global trade with its attacks on shipping in the busy Red Sea corridor after Hamas’s onslaught, arguing its aggression was a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza.
The Houthi rebels — whose slogan is “death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, and victory to Islam” — have controlled a significant portion of Yemen’s land along the Red Sea since 2014, when it captured it in the midst of the country’s civil war.
The Iran-backed movement has said it will target all ships heading to Israeli ports, even if they do not pass through the Red Sea, and claimed responsibility for attempted drone and missile strikes targeting Israel. Since Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, which launched the ongoing war in Gaza, Houthi terrorists in Yemen have routinely launched ballistic missiles towards Israel’s southern city of Eilat. In July, they hit the center of Tel Aviv with a long-range Iranian-made drone.
These attacks primarily in the Red Sea, a key trade route, disrupted global shipping, raising the cost of shipping and insurance and having a major economic impact. Shipping firms have been forced in many cases to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa to avoid passing near Yemen.
However, ZIM’s increased revenue and profit appeared to have come because of these attacks, not in spite of them.
It was not just ZIM that experienced rising profits. According to Middle East Eye, “shares of Maersk, the Danish shipping giant operating more than 700 vessels, are up about 20 percent in the last month, while German company Hapag-Lloy — the world’s fifth-largest container shipping group — is up 17 percent.”
The reason they are making more revenue is ironically that they are taking alternative, longer routes, in order to avoid the Red Sea. The issue is that these alternative routes require additional fuel — which cost extra money. These additional costs are passed onto consumers, resulting in greater revenue.
However, the costs passed onto consumers are usually greater than the additional costs that the companies bear due to the longer routes. As a result, they are not just making extra revenue, but extra profit as well.
Observers have noted that these higher prices — which go beyond just the additional prices of fuel, for example — may be justified by pointing out that shipping has become increasingly risky, and so consumers ought to pay higher prices when companies are taking on greater risk.
Since the attacks began, the Houthis have damaged at least 30 ships. At least two cargo ships — one UK-owned and one Greek-owned — have been sunk.
Iran itself has also attacked ships. In April, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seized what it claimed to be an “Israeli-linked” ship near the Strait of Hormuz and, in November, Iran attacked an Israeli ship with drones in the Indian Ocean, according to the US.
As for the Houthis, they have threatened and in some cases actually attacked US and British ships, leading the two Western allies to launch retaliatory strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
The post Israeli Shipping Company Sees Soaring Profits Because — Not in Spite — of Houthi Red Sea Attacks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Receives Shipment of Heavy Bombs Cleared by Trump
US President Donald Trump looks on as he signs an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 31, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Israel has received a shipment of heavy MK-84 bombs from the United States, after US President Donald Trump lifted a block imposed on the export of the munitions by the administration of predecessor Joe Biden, the defense ministry said on Sunday.
The MK-84 is an unguided 2,000 pound bomb, which can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.
The Biden administration declined to clear them for export to Israel out of concern about the impact on densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.
The Biden administration sent thousands of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas terrorists from Gaza but later held up one of the shipments. The hold was lifted by Trump last month.
“The munitions shipment that arrived in Israel tonight, released by the Trump Administration, represents a significant asset for the Air Force and the IDF and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said late on Saturday.
The shipment arrived after days of concern about whether a fragile ceasefire in Gaza agreed last month would hold, after both sides accused each other of violating the terms of the deal to halt fighting to allow the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails.
Washington has announced assistance for Israel worth billions of dollars since the war began.
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US Mideast Envoy Says Phase Two Gaza Talks to Continue This Week
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that talks on phase two of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian terrorists Hamas would continue this week “at a location to be determined” to figure out how to reach a successful conclusion.
He told Fox News that he had “very productive and constructive” calls on Sunday with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s director of intelligence.
Witkoff said they spoke about “the sequencing of phase two, setting forth positions on both sides, so we can understand… where we are today, and then continuing talks this week at a location to be determined so that we can figure out how we get to the end of phase two successfully.”
The post US Mideast Envoy Says Phase Two Gaza Talks to Continue This Week first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Arab States to Reveal 5-Year Plan to Rebuild Gaza: No Hamas or Relocation
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the Arab summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, May 31, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad l Mohammed/File Photo.
i24 News – Arab countries will unveil their plan for the reconstruction of Gaza on February 27 in Cairo. This initiative, developed by the Palestinians and handed over to the Egyptians for implementation, will be presented to the leaders of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The plan provides for reconstruction over three to five years, without the displacement of the Palestinian population and without Hamas control. The funding, estimated at several hundred million dollars, will come from Gulf countries. The work will be carried out by Egyptian companies, representing a significant source of income for Egypt, which is strongly opposed to any migration of Palestinians out of Gaza. The workforce will consist mainly of local Palestinians.
“The goal is to marginalize Hamas so that it understands that it has lost control of Gaza, and to completely eliminate the terrorist organization’s grip on the population and the territory within 5 years from the start of reconstruction,” a source involved in the plan said.
An independent “Palestinian administration,” separate from the Palestinian Authority but relying on it, will oversee the reconstruction. This power structure is designed to get the approval of Israel and the United States, who refuse direct management by the Palestinian Authority.
Arab countries fear a resurgence of fighting by Israel, which could, in their view, favor US President Donald Trump’s plan to move Palestinians to neighboring countries. The former US president said he wanted to see Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab countries welcome more displaced people from Gaza, so that the war-torn area can be “cleaned up.”
According to analyzed satellite images, approximately 65% of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed during the war. Experts estimate that reconstruction could take more than a decade and cost several hundred billion dollars.
The post Arab States to Reveal 5-Year Plan to Rebuild Gaza: No Hamas or Relocation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.