Monday 20 November 2023 · moved the Index · spike
Red Sea attacks begin
Multiple maritime incidents drove attention in late November 2023: Houthi rebels seized the car carrier Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea on November 20, taking 17 Filipino seafarers hostage; separately, a cargo ship sank off a Greek island on November 26 with 13 crew members missing in stormy seas. The container ship CMA CGM Symi was also hit by an Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean. The incidents generated significant media and social media coverage focused on crew safety and geopolitical tensions.
Peak 122.1 on Monday 20 November 2023. The shaded band is the incident window.
Where the attention came from
Over the whole window this ran Mixed-led; on the peak day itself it read Social-led. When the two differ, the fast signals (social, news) spiked and faded while the slow ones (search, research) carried the tail. Social here is X alone — Bluesky only joins the series from July 2024 — so its level isn't directly comparable with today's series, though its share of this incident is real.
Bar = share of the extra attention over the whole window; the tick marks the share on the peak day alone, where the two differ.
How unusual it was
The #11 incident since 2020 by peak. Its peak day ranks #175 among all days — the higher days all belong to 11 bigger incidents.
How far it spread
No vessel type moved — 0 of 6 vessel-type groups drew clearly more readers than usual.
Bars start at 1× — normal readership for that vessel type, the weeks before the incident. Grey = no clear lift. "Over time" shows each group's daily readers through the window; "All 12 articles" breaks the six groups back into their members.
How it was framed the frame glossary →
Lead frame: geopolitical pawn. Trade press was 3% of in-scope coverage — the story had left the trade press and gone mainstream. (Historical coverage is scored on headlines only.)
Acting, or acted upon
In 70% of coverage shipping was the thing acted upon rather than the actor; 28% of it was strongly negative in tone.
What the coverage said
- Helicopter-borne Houthi attack on Galaxy Leader cargo ship raises risks in crucial Red Seascmp.com · 2023-11-22
- Israel Says Yemen's Houthi Rebels Hijack Cargo Ship in Red Seabloomberg.com · 2023-11-19
- Yemen's Houthi rebels seize cargo ship in Red Sea, Israel blames Iran | Israel-Palestine conflict Newsaljazeera.com · 2023-11-19
- Yemen's Houthi rebels hijack cargo ship in Red Seabbc.com · 2023-11-19
- Yemen Houthi Rebels Takes Hostage Of Cargo Ship 'Galaxy Leader' In The Red Sea - Foreign Affairsnairaland.com · 2023-11-21
- Hijacked cargo ship Galaxy Leader is spotted off Yemen in satellite images days after Iran-back Houthi rebels stormed the vessel in the Red Seadailymail.co.uk · 2023-11-21
Gold rule = a national or international outlet, not a trade title.
Maritime Attention Index, incident: Red Sea attacks begin, peak 122.1 on 20 November 2023. maritimeattentionindex.com/incidents/2023-red-sea-attacks-begin/