Shell Didn't Halt Shipping Through Red Sea Till U.S. Began Attacks on Yemen

According to a report cited by The Wall Street Journal, Shell is joining the ranks of many other companies in putting on hold all its cargo shipments through the Red Sea after the U.S. turned it into a war zone. The shipping suspension is effective immediately.

Citing “people familiar with the decision”, the newspaper said Shell executives decided on the move not directly because of Yemen’s attempted blockade of ships heading for or owned by fascist Israel, something which has been ongoing since November 2023.

It did so only after first the United States rammed through a resolution in the UN Security Council last week intended to justify extensive aerial attacks, missile launches, and other attacks on the Houthi military in Yemen, then followed through on what has amounted to nearly daily attacks on now hundreds of Yemeni targets by U.S. and U.K. fighter jets and naval vessels traveling in the Red Sea in support of Israel's genocide of Palestinians.

Senior officials within Shell weighed many concerns in making this decision. Among them was the now much higher risk of open conflict in the Red Sea, as the U.S.-led Operation Prosperity Guardian would end up escalating the risk to all shipping as it began using offensive force to shut down the relatively non-threatening Yemen blockade. A second worry was that, if one of Shell’s ships were to be struck by a missile or drone as part of the conflict, such an attack might also cause a major explosion or oil spill from the vessel.

Shell has not confirmed this decision publicly yet.

The company is far from alone in making this decision. In shutting down its seaborne oil shipments passing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, it now joins the ranks of Qatar Energy and BP, both of which previously decided to stop sending their oceanic oil bulk cargo carriers through that passage.

For its part, Yemen maintains it is carrying out its shipping disruptions to force Israel to end its mass genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and to institute an immediate ceasefire in the region. Its leadership says those disruptions will end when Israel halts its brutal war which has now murdered over 25,000 Palestinians, most of them children.

The impact of Yemen's blockade on supplies to Israel has been minimal but their courage and willingness to stand up to Israel and its allies have encouraged all of humanity. It has also help the world to better understand exactly who humanity's true enemies are.