Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not sure why population matters. > Maersk said vessels routed around the Cape will as far as possible try to fuel at origin or destination. > “In case there is a need for bunkering en route, it would be decided on a case by case basis with Walvis Bay (Namibia) or Port Louis (Mauritius) being the top options,” a spokesperson said. I grew up in Walvis Bay and back then I could cycle from one end to the other in well un…
Oh whoa! I've always wanted to visit Namibia! How similar is it to South Africa?
African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
191–200 of 219 posts
Re: African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
#192Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh whoa! I've always wanted to visit Namibia! How similar is it to South Africa?
If you enjoy travelling long distances surrounded by unspoiled flora and fauna, and settling in for the night at small unpretentious places run by welcoming and passionate people you will love it.
Re: African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
#193Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Their demands and intentions are quite clear and solely focused on Israeli-bound ships... Their actions haven't been, though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houthi_involvement_in_the_2023... > On 12 December 2023, the Houthis launched an anti-ship cruise missile attack against the Norwegian commercial ship Strinda, an oil and chemical tanker operated by the J. Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi company, while it was close to…
Isn’t one of the owners of the ship’s company an Israeli Billionaire?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Ludwig_Mowinckels_Rederi doesn't say anything along those lines.
Re: African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
Im describing a pattern of US involvenent in the middle east that has killed millions of people, actually. Russia never getting a friendly welcome from the rest of europe after the collapse of the soviet union has to try to work with the only other neighbors they have, and havent had nearly as many problems and incurring far less wrath from the arab world as we have. Chinas MO is not to start wars, and to date has no…
Unfortunately for the "US is bad" narrative, conflict in the Middle East far predates US involvement. Genocides, ethnic cleansing, forced conversions, and plenty of other atrocities have been happening globally for a long time. These did not come into being with the modern world. This is not to say that there are not valid criticisms of US actions. But the Arab world deserves more criticism than it typically gets.
Re: African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
#195Earlier quoted context omitted.
Middle East politics have always felt beyond my understanding. I know we (as in western countries, specifically the US and the UK, but also others) contributed greatly to this mess (and still do to this day, in multiple ways). That said, at some point, you expect things to normalize, because fundamentally people should be conflict adverse, however, it seems this region has an unusually high rate of conflicts that are…
Clan dynamics aren't only a Middle Eastern thing. They happen in every culture or society where family ties matter. For example, Guangdong's rise in electronics assembly thanks to Cantonese business families in Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore investing in Taiwan and then co-investing in Guangdong. > it appears Middle Eastern governments have been in power a long time Most are stable. Aside from Libya, Syria, Iraq,…
Cantonese business families (eg. Shiniwatra/Qiu) in Thailand/HK/SG/MY investing in factories in Guangdong
Hokkien business families (eg. Tan Kah Kee, like the chem building at UC Berkeley by Evan's Hall) in SG/MY investing in Taiwan and then coinvesting with Taiwanese in Guangdong
Teochew business families (eg. Chearavanont/Xie, Li Ka Shing, etc) in TH/SG/MY investing in Guangdong
Re: African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
I was using suicide bombings to demonstrate that people dont willingly throw their lives away unless they have a good reason for it. Look, just, for a second consider that you are treating iran as a bogeyman, they gave us intelligence on al queda after 9/11, they held a candlelight vigil in tehran for the victims. How much do you really know about iran? Are you really so confident that you understand everything thats…
> consider that you are treating iran as a bogeyman I’m not. I’m treating them as a decision maker who won’t negotiate. Which they are. That leaves few options for a quick resolution outside military ones. > Are you really so confident that you understand everything thats happened there? Compared to the guy defending the Nazis, yes.
Re: African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
#197Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfortunately for the "US is bad" narrative, conflict in the Middle East far predates US involvement. Genocides, ethnic cleansing, forced conversions, and plenty of other atrocities have been happening globally for a long time. These did not come into being with the modern world. This is not to say that there are not valid criticisms of US actions. But the Arab world deserves more criticism than it typically gets.
Criticise away, when we arent actively occupying multiple countries and funding terrorist groups. I agree with you, western culture is better, but you arent putting it on good display when we invade countries to control their oil.
I'm open to the "glass houses" take where people should be careful leveling criticism. I have a hard time seeing how this puts any of the terrorist organizations in a position that they are putting on a good display.
Re: African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
#198Earlier quoted context omitted.
[flagged]
> holocaust was the result of our involvement. And hitlers rise was in large part due to our involvement in WW1. Sorry buddy, you’ve gone off the deep end. Germany wasn’t winning WWI, with or without America. What our involvement did was shorten the war’s duration and lighten the terms of the Treaty of Versailles a tad. As for America being responsible for the Holocaust, you’re wrong. I know where you’re getting this…
Re: African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
#199Earlier quoted context omitted.
I for the life of me can't figure out how countries end up in situations where a large subset of said population is not only armed by effectively uncontrollable by the government. How do they get money for arms? Where do the arms come from? Why is the government unable to exert any realistic control within their own borders? I know its a complex political problem, but I still don't get how in 2023 we still have warlo…
> How do they get money for arms? Where do the arms come from? Why is the government unable to exert any realistic control within their own borders In the Houthi's case, they're a clan. The entire clan pitched in because they were persecuted under Saleh - businessmen, service men, low level govenenent officials, etc. Familial and Clan traditons are still a thing.
I think that most W.E.I.R.D. (Western) people don't realize how much the rest of the world (for better or worse) still runs on kin-based rules. Good book going over the strangeness of the 'Western' world in many respects:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_WEIRDest_People_in_the_Wor...
* https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/10/joseph-...
Re: African Ports Overwhelmed by Red Sea Reroutings
#200I wrote an article the other day on how beneficial ownership makes this situation worse: https://omarabid.com/beneficial-ownership As ships can't be anonymous (both on ownership and journey), this reduce the intelligence work to 0 by "hostile" entities. This would not have been possible if privacy was the default as their options will be reduced to a full blockade.
Houthis have a request - food/water for Gaza - but Israel says no so the rest of the world has to suffer.