Publicly available commercial shipping data demonstrates Red Sea shipping increased following President Donald Trump’s November 2024 election.
Red Sea shipping dramatically decreased after the Houthis, an Iran-backed Yemeni terror group, began targeting US, Israeli, and allies' ships since Hamas’ October 7th, 2023, attacks.
Houthi forces have orchestrated drone and missile attacks against US military and commercial ships and increasingly directly attacked Israel’s civilian population.
During former President Joe Biden’s administration, the US primarily intercepted Houthi missiles without directly striking Houthi positions or weapons stockpiles.
It is estimated that the Houthis attacked US military and commercial ships over 300 times throughout the Biden administration.
President Trump, however, vowed to pursue a “maximum pressure campaign” against Iran, the Houthis, and other associated terror groups.
Consequently, the US has pummeled the Houthis with daily strikes and attempted to corner them with financial and diplomatic pressure.
The strategy seems to be inciting the return of some of the commercial shipping that was lost thanks to Houthi aggression.
While Red Sea shipping has not returned to its historical averages, data from maritime trade reveals a partial comeback in Red Sea shipping in recent months.
In 2024, Red Sea shipping reportedly suffered an overall reduction of roughly 50%.
However, during Trump’s first 100 days in office, Red Sea shipping began to recover as more ships traversed the region month on month.
Despite some hiccups, the overall trend depicts a slow recovery of the Red Sea’s essential commercial shipping lanes.
This trend is expected to continue as Trump recently announced a ceasefire agreement with Houthi terrorists conditioned on the latter’s cessation of anti-shipping activities.
"We will stop the bombings,” said Trump. “They (Houthis) have capitulated... we will take their word that they will not be blowing up ships anymore, and that's the purpose of what we were doing."
