British embassy confirms 2 sailors dead as Houthi rebels strike ship off Yemen
The British embassy has confirmed two sailors are dead after Houthi rebels struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden.
Survivors were forced to abandon the vessel during the incident today - the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the group over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The attack on the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier True Confidence further escalates the conflict on a crucial maritime route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping.
The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the US began an airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn’t halted the rebels’ attacks. Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday that it would confiscate a $50 million (£39 million) cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy firm Chevron Corp aboard a tanker it seized nearly a year earlier. It marks the latest twist in a yearslong shadow war playing out in the Middle East’s waterways even before the Houthi attacks began.
The attack on Wednesday on the True Confidence came after it had been hailed over radio by individuals claiming to be the Yemeni military, officials said. The Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since launching their attacks, with analysts suspecting the rebels want to seize the vessels.
Two US officials, speaking on condition of anonymity as they didn’t have authorisation to speak publicly, said that the anti-ship ballistic missile attack killed two of the crew members on board and wounded six others. The full extent of the damage to the Liberian-owned ship remained unclear, but the crew abandoned the ship and deployed lifeboats. A US warship and the Indian navy were on the scene, trying to assist in rescue efforts.
'The Houthis might be a threat but do we really need to be bombing again?'
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded message, saying its missile fire set the vessel ablaze. He said the rebels’ attacks would only stop when 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 US-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have remained capable of launching significant attacks. They include the attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertiliser, 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.
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