"2nd Ship Sunk in Two Days" Topic

Sal Mercogliano — a maritime historian at Campbell University (@campbelledu) and former merchant mariner — discusses the video released by the Houthis on the sinking of the Greek-owned and Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Eternity C on July 8, 2025.

What's Going On With Shipping? YouTube link

Why do the Houthi bases still exist? 🤔

Trump bombed everything a long time ago)))

I thought there were NATO ships providing escort in the Red Sea?

Depressed: Why the US has nothing to counter the Houthis with

link

Paste the link into Google Translate and you will be able to read the article in automatic translation.

Where is the Greek navy? You would think NATO could put together something which resembles a task force between their 20+ members, go down there, and whack the Houthis in the Red Sea, plus the Iranian ships which are providing command and control.

Much of the "command and control" is taking place from land, the terrain allows for excellent coverage out across the BAM. It is also possible for you (and I mean you personally reading this) to target commercial vessels from the comfort of your own sofa. It really is that easy. And with the range and flight profiles for missiles other than ASCMs being such that you can launch from pretty much anywhere in Yemen I hope you can see the complex nature of counters to Houthi activity in the region

I wonder if the lack of an organized convoy or maritime protection force is because there is no way to counter the threat on the water? Unless or until there is a way to defeat drones, a convoy would end up being a big fat target. An unsuccessful attempt to protect merchant vessels would have a worse impact on commerce than a few sunken ships. I fear that the only way to stop the threat will be to eliminate the Houthis through an invasion of their territory. I hope that this can be done without U.S. troops on the ground. Perhaps we could convince the Saudis to try again?

David -

Many vessels turn off their transponders these days when transiting the Red Sea, without the transponder radar will show a blip but not the vessel's ID. If you're really slick you can change your transponder to show a completely different ship to any radar that pings you. So it is not "really that easy". If all you are getting is a blip on your radar you need to ID the ship another way, so the Iranians have maintained an IRG vessel in the shipping lanes to visually confirm the identity of each ship as it passes and relay the targeting info back to their proxies ashore.

Why do the Houthi bases still exist?

Exactly …

Trump bombed everything a long time ago)))

So bomb it again …

I hope that this can be done without U.S. troops on the ground.

Highly unlikely that there will be boots on the ground. As with Iran, there is nothing to seize and hold … only destroy. There is absolutely no real reason to land troops in Yemen or Iran. But there are still plenty of targets to be serviced with extreme prejudice. In both countries …

Why the US has nothing to counter the Houthis with

I'm pretty sure that is a very inaccurate statement. The Houthis have nothing better than what Iran gives them. All of it can be destroyed by air and sea assets. Waste ordinance not US lives. Houthi losses are irrelevant … there should be no concern over destroying their military assets or forces … The more the better … this is the continuing GWoT.

Legion +1

Inch, everything you say is true, but it is also easy to mitigate with a small amount of thought and effort. I have been wargaming similar potential scenarios (but with different desired end states that are more complex than "hit with missile") and if really is that easy.