Two winners from the Red Sea crisis: the shipping lines and Houthis

“Vessels ‘go dark’ to avoid Houthi attacks,” blared headlines as 2024 kicked in, and commercial shipping very swiftly threw forecasts to the winds as it became apparent that the spate of attacks in the Red Sea region in the closing weeks of 2023 had morphed into a campaign.

Now, with the year drawing to a close, it seems that, financially at least, there have been two winners from the Red Sea crisis: commercial shipping and the Houthis.