Maritime security company Ambrey announced that a Greek-owned Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship was targeted when it was approximately 53 nautical miles southwest of Aden, Yemen and sailing south.
According to the same source, the ship "STAR NASIA" was heading to India from the United States and reported an explosion 50 metres from its starboard side, while there were no reports of injuries or damage.
UKMTO WARNING 028 UPDATE 001
ATTACKhttps://t.co/qlApy9q9pq#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/LBx9fSH93L
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) February 6, 2024
Houthis claim fresh attacks on British and US ships in Red Sea
The Houthis say they have successfully targeted a British and a US ship in the Red Sea, casting doubt on the effectiveness of three waves of US-UK strikes on missile sites belonging to the group in Yemen.
Neither of the two ships were badly damaged but the incident will underscore the need for commercial ships either to pay higher insurance premiums or take longer, more expensive routes to avoid the threat of Houthi attacks.
The US military undertook a daylight raid on the port of Hodeidah on Monday without UK support.
A Houthi spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a statement on Tuesday: “We carried out two military operations, the first targeted an American ship (Star Nasia), and the other targeted a British ship (Morning Tide).”
The security company Ambrey reported earlier on Tuesday that a British ship flying the Barbados flag “suffered minor damage to its port” 57 nautical miles from the coast of Hodeidah, without any casualties. The ship continued on its way.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said just after midnight GMT on Tuesday that it had received a report of a projectile fired at the port side of a ship west of Hodeidah and that a small craft was seen nearby.
The projectile passed over the deck and caused slight damage to the bridge windows, but the vessel and crew were safe and proceeded on the planned passage, it added.
Saree said operations against vessels would continue until “the aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is stopped”.
On Monday the UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, told MPs there had been a change in the cadence of Houthi strikes. “The clock is running down for the Houthis, in as much as their ability is being degraded,” Shapps said. “They do not have the eyes and ears from the radar stations; they are more reliant still on Iran.”
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is on his fifth trip to the Middle East since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel. He travelled to Egypt after meeting Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh to discuss how to achieve “an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”.
