Yemen: 2 killed in Houthi attack on ship, first 'fatalities' in assaults on shipping

According to authorities, the Houthi rebels from Yemen launched a missile attack on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, killing two of the crew and forcing the survivors to flee the ship. This was the first fatal attack in a campaign of attacks by the organization over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The assault on the bulk carrier True Confidence, flying the flag of Barbados, intensifies the battle on a vital maritime corridor that connects Europe to Asia and the Middle East and has hampered international transportation. The United States commenced an airstrike campaign in January, but it hasn’t stopped the Houthis’ attacks since November. The Houthis are supported by Iran.

Iran, meanwhile, declared on Wednesday that it would seize a $50 million shipment of Kuwaiti crude oil for the American energy company Chevron Corp. from a tanker that it had captured almost a year prior. It represents the most recent development in a long-running covert conflict that was already taking place in the waterways of the Middle East before the Houthi attacks started.

According to officials, the True Confidence was attacked on Wednesday after being welcomed over the radio by people posing as members of the Yemeni military. Since beginning their assaults, the Houthis have been calling ships via radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden; observers surmise that the rebels wish to take the ships.

Speaking under oath because they lacked permission to address the public, two U.S. officials said that the anti-ship ballistic missile attack left two of the crew members dead and six others injured.

The crew of the Liberian-owned ship abandoned ship and launched lifeboats, though it was unclear how much damage had been done.

The Indian navy and a U.S. cruiser were present and making an effort to support the rescue operations.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded message, saying its missile fire set the vessel ablaze. According to him, the strikes by the rebels won’t end until the “siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza is lifted.”

The rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over the Israel-Hamas war, but up to Wednesday hadn’t killed any crew members. The vessels have included at least one with cargo bound for Iran, the Houthis’ main benefactor, and an aid ship later bound for Houthi-controlled territory.

Despite more than a month and a half of U.S.-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have remained capable of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertilizer, the Rubymar, which sank on Saturday after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

It was unclear why the Houthis targeted the True Confidence. However, it had previously been owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that finances vessels on installments. Oaktree declined to comment.

Meanwhile, a separate Houthi assault Tuesday apparently targeted the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American campaign against the rebels. The Carney shot down bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the U.S. military’s Central Command said. Saree acknowledged that attack as well.

Later, according to the Central Command, the United States carried out an airstrike that destroyed three anti-ship missiles and three drone boats carrying bombs.

Despite claiming that at least 22 of its fighters have been slain, the Houthis have not provided an estimate of the harm they have endured as a result of the US-led attacks that started in January. There has apparently been one civilian death.

New penalties against a financier supporting the Houthis and the Iranian paramilitary Revolutionary Guard’s expeditionary Quds Force, which supplies the rebels with weapons, were also announced by the U.S. Treasury separately.

Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, has been under Houthi control since 2014. Since 2015, they have fought a protracted conflict there against a coalition led by Saudi Arabia.

A video showed Indian sailors from the INS Kolkata dousing a fire on board the MSC Sky II—which the Houthis had targeted in the Gulf of Aden on Monday—was made public by the Indian navy in the meantime. The ship was heading from Singapore to Djibouti when the missile struck it, according to the Swiss business Mediterranean Shipping Co. Nobody was hurt.

Iran made a separate notice about the seizure of the crude oil on board the Advantage Sweet, which was distributed by the state-run Mizan news agency for the judiciary. Without providing any proof, Iran claimed at the time that the Advantage Sweet had crashed with another ship.

The Advantage Sweet had passed through the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all traded oil travels, in late April, but its track showed no anomalous behavior. Iran has made claims in the past regarding other seizures, but those claims were later withdrawn when it was evident that Tehran was attempting to use the capture as leverage in negotiations with other countries.

The San Ramon, California-based Chevron stated on Wednesday that the Advantage Sweet had been “seized under false pretenses” and that it “has not had any direct communication with Iran over the seizure of the vessel.”

“Chevron has not been permitted access to the vessel and considers the cargo a total loss due to Iran’s illegal actions,” Chevron said in a statement. “We now consider the cargo the responsibility of the Iranian government.”

Since 2019, the area has been rocked by explosions and ship seizures. The incidents started when then-President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of the international community’s nuclear agreement with Iran.