Fresh Houthi strike breaks week-long lull in Gulf of Aden attacks

Military forces from Yemen’s Houthi group appear to have ended their week-long break in operations against commercial shipping with an attack targeting a vessel in the Gulf of Aden.

The master of an unidentified merchant ship reported an explosion near to the vessel some 133 km southeast of Djibouti but no crew members were hurt and the ship was not damaged.

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The attack followed a sharp reduction in Houthi activity linked in part to the lack of targets, with Western shipping avoiding the Red Sea area after a period of high tensions.

The European Union Red Sea naval mission, dubbed EUNAVFOR Aspides, reported the Houthis launched 11 attacks in the week starting 4 April, the highest number since the start of their targeting of shipping in retaliation for Israel’s assault on Gaza.

The count dropped to seven the following week, and there have been none reported since 18 April, according to data compiled by the mission before Wednesday’s attack.

It was the first week without attacks since the start of Houthi operations against shipping in mid-November.

“The drop of confirmed attacks in recent weeks … shall, however, not dismiss the fact that Houthis probably still hold the capacity to launch such attacks,” said the mission in an operational note.

And it warned that the seizure by Iranian naval forces of the 15,000-teu container ship MSC Aries (built 2020) on 13 April in the Strait of Hormuz highlighted the continued threat of hijacking in the region.

The hijacking was followed by a huge missile attack targeting Israel on 13 April ordered by Tehran.

Houthis had warned of new attacks against shipping amid renewing heavy shelling in Gaza by Israeli forces this week.

The Houthi television channel reported a call to the Houthi forces to increase their operations against maritime targets following the discovery of mass graves at the site of destroyed hospitals in Gaza.

States lined up to criticise the Houthis and Iran at the International Maritime Organization on Monday.

IMO secretary general Arsenio Dominguez called for the release of 49 crew still held from the seizure of the 5,100-ceu car carrier Galaxy Leader (built 2002) by the Houthis in November and from the Aries.