Red Sea Defense Has a ‘Freeloading’ Problem: Chris Bryant

Ship owners are diverting vessels thousands of miles round the southern tip of Africa in response to Houthi attacks in the Rea Sea, boosting freight rates from low levels and encouraging investors to bid up shipping stocks. The crisis should draw renewed attention to an industry that mostly operates outside global taxation norms and now expects governments to protect it.

Western governments have dispatched navies to protect ships wanting to transit the Suez Canal — a key artery for global trade — and the US and UK have begun airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen to prevent more attacks.

These maritime defense ...