Feb 19, 2024. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Dubai,United Arab Emirates
A missile
attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels that damaged a Belize-flagged ship traveling
through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden
has forced the crew to abandon the vessel, authorities said Monday. Another
ship reportedly came twice under attack in the Gulf of Aden.
The Iran-backed Houthis also claimed they shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, something not immediately acknowledged by U.S. forces in the region. However, the Houthis have downed U.S. drones before.
Meanwhile,
the U.S. military said it was conducting new airstrikes targeting the rebels,
including one that targeted the first Houthi underwater drone seen since they
began launching attacks on international shipping in November.
The ship
targeted in the Houthi attack on Sunday reported sustaining damage after “an
explosion in close proximity to the vessel,” the British military's United
Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported.
“Military
authorities report crew have abandoned the vessel,” the UKMTO said. “Vessel at
anchor and all crew are safe.”
Houthi
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree issued a statement claiming the attack, saying the
vessel later sunk.
There was
no independent confirmation the vessel sank.
“The ship
suffered catastrophic damages and came to a complete halt,” Saree said. “During
the operation, we made sure that the ship’s crew exited safely.”
The private
security firm Ambrey reported the British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo
ship had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United
Arab Emirates.
Ship-tracking
data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by The Associated Press identified the
vessel targeted as the Rubymar. Its Beirut-based manager could not be reached
for comment.
The Houthis
later also identified the ship as the Rubymar, as did the U.S. military's
Central Command.
Central
Command said the attack involved two anti-ship ballistic missiles, which saw
one struck the Rubymar.
Ambrey
described the ship as being partially laden with cargo, but it wasn't
immediately clear what it had been carrying. The ship had turned off its
Automatic Identification System tracker while in the Persian Gulf early this
month.
Later
Monday, the UKMTO and Ambrey said a second vessel came under attack in the Gulf
of Aden. Ambrey described the vessel as a Greek-flagged, U.S.-owned bulk
carrier bound for Aden, Yemen, and carrying grain from Argentina. The same ship
then came under attack again, later in the day.
Those
details, combined with ship-tracking data, identified the vessel as the Sea
Champion. Its managers could not be immediately reached. The Houthis later
claimed the attack, but instead said it targeted a second vessel other than the
Sea Champion in that assault.
Since
November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and
surrounding waters over Israel’s war targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They
have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel,
imperiling shipping in a key route for trade among Asia, the Mideast and
Europe. Those vessels have included at least one with cargo for Iran, its main
benefactor.
In a
separate attack, Saree also claimed that Houthi forces shot down an MQ-9 drone
near Yemen's port city of Hodeida on the Red Sea. He offered no evidence for
the claim.
The Houthi
“air defenses were able to shoot down an American plane — MQ-9 — with a
suitable missile while it was carrying out hostile missions against our country
on behalf of the Zionist entity,” Saree said.
The U.S.
military did not immediately confirm the loss of any drones in the region.
However, the Houthis have surface-to-air missile systems capable of shooting
down high-flying American drones. In November, the Pentagon acknowledged the
loss of an MQ-9, shot down by the rebels over the Red Sea.
Since
Yemen's Houthi rebels seized the country's north and its capital of Sanaa in
2014, the U.S. military has lost four drones to shootdowns by the rebels — in
2017, 2019 and this year.
Meanwhile,
the U.S. military's Central Command reported it carried out five airstrikes
targeting Houthi military equipment. Those strikes targeted mobile anti-ship
cruise missiles, an explosive-carrying drone boat and an “unmanned underwater
vessel,” Central Command said.
“This is
the first observed Houthi employment of a UUV since attacks began in Oct. 23,”
Central Command said.
ABCnews,
AP,
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