Yemen's Houthis granting ships safe passage via email: Report

Yemen’s Houthis are controlling maritime transit of the Red Sea through a system under which vessels can request safe passage via email, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

The Houthis, who control swaths of Yemen, declared a maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia earlier this year, after which some ships began contacting them before transiting the Red Sea, the Journal reported.

If the Houthis reply, they typically do so within 24 hours, the newspaper said, citing crew member accounts and emails it reviewed.

The Journal included one email in which the master of an unnamed ship declared it “has no connections with Israel, the United Kingdom and the United States of America” and said “we kindly request your confirmation for safe passage.”