The Iranian cargo vessel that allegedly fed Houthi militants information on a car carrier before it was stormed in November has shifted south, reportedly for similar purposes.
A report by United Arab Emirates security provider Neptune P2P said the 23,176-dwt multipurpose vessel Behshad (built 1999) is “highly likely to be providing the Houthis intelligence and targeting information”.
It comes as the Yemen-based forces have begun attacks in the Gulf of Aden, away from the focus of Operation Prosperity Guardian coalition naval forces.
“The creation of this dilemma would fall within a wider tactical strategy which seems to be testing the effectiveness of the coalition’s capabilities,” Neptune P2P said.
Ray Car Carriers’ 5,100-ceu Galaxy Leader (built 2002) was boarded and seized by the Houthis on 19 November after sailing past the Behshad in the Red Sea. Analysts suspect it was acting as a spy ship.
According to AIS data, the Behshad was about 228 km (123 nautical miles) northwest of Al Hudaydah in Yemen for all of 2023.
It departed the area in early January, sailing south through the Bab al-Mandeb strait to its current location, roughly 100 km (54 nautical miles) east of Dijbouti City on 12 January.
The ship has been managed by Tehran’s Rahbaran Omid Darya Ship Management since 2010, according to Equasis.
The Behshad is one of 69 ships linked to Rahbaran, the database shows, including the 23,175-dwt Iran-flagged Saviz (built 1999), which was alleged to be a forward operating base for the Iranian military in 2021 following an explosion on board.
Iran said the vessel was in the Red Sea on an anti-piracy mission.
Since the Galaxy Leader seizure, Neptune P2P said the week of 4 December saw the most attacks (seven).
By the week of 15 January, the Houthis mustered just one attack in the Red Sea, as ship traffic in the waterway dropped deeply, primarily from container ships, car carriers and tankers diverting.
The security provider attributed the lack of attacks to both the diversions and to Operation Prosperity Guardian, in which forces from various Western countries patrolled the region, as well as to airstrikes on land-based Houthi targets by the US and the UK.
Attacks have been launched in the Gulf of Aden: the 55,300-dwt bulker Genco Picardy (built 2005) and 63,600-dwt ultramax Gibraltar Eagle (built 2015) were attacked in recent days.
The Houthis also claimed to have hit the 10,700-dwt US-flagged heavylift ship Ocean Jazz (built 2010), although the US Navy denied the incident.
The European Union’s Atalanta security mission has warned owners that the Houthis could be looking south following a failed attempt at boarding AP Moller-Maersk’s 15,200-teu Maersk Hangzhou (built 2018) in December.
US forces killed 10 Houthi militants, foiling the attack.
