The Indian warships INS Tamal and INS Surat are returning home these days from a three-day friendly visit to the Saudi port of Jeddah, in the Red Sea—which, between Suez and Bab el Mandeb, records all new armed incidents: within reach of the strategic port of Port Sudan (at the end of May) and this week, not far from the Saudi port of Yanbu, about 220 kilometres from Medina.
Port Sudan is the unofficial headquarters of the administration of General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, the de facto leader of Sudan and commander of the Sudanese Army (SAF)—after the outbreak of armed conflicts (April 2023) against the rebels of the Rapid Intervention Force (RSF) of General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
The spring attack by the forces of General Dagalo with drones of unconfirmed production origin, was carried out at a location near Port Sudan, which—according to the long-term plans of Moscow and the government of General al Burhan, should become the first military – naval stronghold of Russia on the Red Sea.
Be that as it may, after the “drone attack”, the regime of General Burhan accused the United Arab Emirates of being “the aggressor country” and of abundantly supplying the troops of General Dagalo with the most modern weapons, which the official Abu Dhabi categorically denies. Sudan broke off relations with the UAE in May, while the official Abu Dhabi last month first banned the landing of “Sudan Airlines” planes in Dubai, and then introduced a maritime trade blockade towards Port Sudan.
What could be the further reactions of interested Sudanese and numerous foreign actors regarding the events in Port Sudan, as well as along the 750 kilometres of the coast of the third largest country in Africa on the Red Sea, remains uncertain.
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Yemeni Houthis carried out a “ballistic attack” on the “Scarlet Ray” chemical tanker under the Liberian flag of the “Eastern Pacific Shipping” company, owned by Israeli businessman and philanthropist Idan Ofer, near the Saudi port of Yanbu. Yanbu port is 630 nautical miles from the Houthi naval stronghold of Hodeidah on the extreme southern Red Sea, and about 413 nautical miles from the Israeli port of Eilat on the extreme northern rim of the Red Sea.
“The Yemeni Houthis have better weapons than Norway,” Jitzak Herzog, Israel’s president, noted in an address to the World Economic Forum in Davos last January.
However, leaders of the rebel Hutu movement Ansar Allah claim that the Scarlet Ray “took a hit”, while observers report that it “nearly missed attack, in an area that until recently was safe for navigation”.
It is uncertain who could be the target of mutual threats of further military actions by the radical Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah and Israel.
In addition, the uncertain outcome of the war conflict in Sudan and the influx of foreign actors interested in strategic influence along the coast of the Red Sea, hint at the escalation of tensions along the waterway which—despite all the tragic events around it—still represents the geographically shortest maritime link between East and West. And, vice versa.
