Converted Iranian Drone Carrier Draws Further Shipping Security Concerns

Adding to Red Sea shipping concerns, Tanker Trackers has flagged that Iran is readying to launch its first drone carrier vessel, the Shahdid Mahdavi, a converted boxship previously called Sarvin.

• Mounting analysis and intelligence reports suggest Iran has been assisting Houthi rebels to wreak havoc on international shipping in the Red Sea over the past three months as they call for an end to Israeli attacks in Gaza.
• Vice admiral Brad Cooper, the head of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet said to AP News earlier this week, “What I’ll say is Iran is clearly funding, they’re resourcing, they are supplying and they’re providing training,” Cooper said. “They’re obviously very directly involved. There’s no secret there.”
• Around 35 merchant ships have been targeted by Houthi drones and missiles towards Red Sea shipping targets.
• The semi-official Fars media outlet has called the new Iranian drone vessel a “mobile naval city” capable of “ensuring the security of Iran’s trade lines, as well as the rights of Iranian sailors and fishermen in the high seas.”
• TankerTrackers, a specialist in Iranian shipping flows said “We anticipate Iran’s coming drone carrier will eventually wreak havoc against commercial vessels in the Arabian Sea, somewhere halfway to India.”