Yemen’s Houthi rebels are suspected of launching a missile attack on a container ship in a recent escalation of maritime tensions.
Authorities reported that on Friday night, a Liberian-flagged container ship in the Gulf of Aden was believed to have been targeted by Yemen’s Houthi rebels with two missiles. However, both weapons landed nearby without inflicting any damage.
Following the Houthis’ repeated assaults on a Greek-flagged oil tanker in the Red Sea, during which explosives were planted and later detonated by them, an attack has occurred. This recent onslaught is concerning as it marks one of their most severe attacks within weeks. The rebels’ campaign jeopardizes not only potential major oil spills but also disrupts approximately $1 trillion worth of goods that transit through the Red Sea each year due to ongoing conflicts such as Israel-Hamas war in Gaza Strip and halts crucial aid shipments to Sudan and Yemen- both countries affected severely by conflict ravages.
According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center of the British military, on Friday there was an attack where two missiles detonated near the ship which occurred approximately 240 kilometers (150 miles) east of Aden.
According to the UKMTO, investigations are ongoing and as per their report, all crew members of the ship are safe and they have moved on towards their next port of call.
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On Saturday, the Liberian-flagged container ship Groton was identified as the vessel targeted in a Houthi assault off Aden. The Joint Maritime Information Center oversaw this multinational identification process. This is not the first attack on the Groton; it also came under a similar Houthi assault on August 3rd that resulted in minor damage from two missiles fired at it.
According to the center, the ship was singled out because other vessels affiliated with it had made port visits in Israel recently.
The attack on Friday was not immediately claimed by the Houthis, who may take several hours or even days to acknowledge their assaults.
Since the inception of the war in Gaza last October, over 80 ships have been targeted by missiles and drones from the Houthis. In their campaign, they were successful in seizing one vessel while sinking two others which resulted in four sailor deaths. However, a United States-led coalition intercepted some missiles and drones on Red Sea routes while many failed to reach their intended targets.
According to the rebels, they specifically attack ships affiliated with Israel, the U.S., or the U.K. in order to compel a cessation of Israel’s offensive operations against Hamas in Gaza. However, several of these vessels that have been targeted either possess little or no association with the conflict at hand- notably some en route for Iran are included amongst them.
On Saturday, the Central Command of U.S. military affirmed that two drones were obliterated in Yemen’s Houthi-dominated domain.
