DISTURBING DEVELOPMENT; HOUTHI LEADERS MEET WITH HAMAS, PIJ AND PFLP, TO COORDINATE OPERATIONS

                        

Media linked to official Palestinian sources is reporting that the Houthi leadership has conducted a joint strategy meeting with representatives of HAMAS, PALESTINIAN ISLAMIC JIHAD, and the POPULAR FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE. These are all designated terrorist organizations. The subject matter of the meeting was said to be coordination of attacks upon Israel, although Houthi missiles and drones have not been discriminating in the group's efforts to destroy merchant shipping bound for Europe with Asian consumer goods; Shipping not destined for Israel has been repeatedly hit with lethal force.

Whether this is an indication that these Palestinian organizations will join the Houthis in attacking shipping in the region is not known, but the fact that such a meeting took place raises the chances that Hama and the PIJ, who posses missile technology, will bring them to bear on shipping transiting the region. Risk managers will now be factoring this new development into their estimates of threat levels facing shipping.

Of course, you can expect that insurance costs for coverage will now skyrocket, that some shippers will now even redline the Suez route altogether, and that the insurance marketplace will now see the entry of new, opportunistic players in the industry, seeking to impose unusually high rates, for financial gain.

Add to all this the latest information, that container shipping pricing is widely fluctuating, due to the resulting chaos, all of which is good news for TBML laundrymen, as compliance officers conducting transaction monitoring simply cannot keep up with rapidly unfolding shipping industry developments, and dirty money is most certainly moving within payments undetected.