A wave of US and UK missile and bomb strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen has yet to visibly diminish their capacity to carry out attacks against commercial and warships off Yemen, with the rebel group firing six missiles against two vessels on Tuesday.
According to a statement by their military spokesman Yahya Saree, the Houthis repeatedly targeted US-listed Star Bulk Carriers’ 82,200-dwt Star Nasia and the 12,000-dwt cargo ship Morning Tide (both built 2006).
Incidents against the two vessels were corroborated by US and UK authorities.
According to the US Central Command (Centcom), the Star Nasia was attacked three times over a span of 13 hours while it was sailing south of Aden — at 0020 GMT, 1100 GMT and 1330 GMT.
The first two missiles only just missed the ship, causing no injuries among the crew. The third missile was shot down in mid-air by the US warship USS Laboon.
“Minor damage” was caused to the Star Nasia, which remained seaworthy and continued towards its destination, Centcom said.
According to Ambrey Analytics, one missile hit 50 metres off the vessel’s starboard side.
This is far from the first attack carried out by the Houthis against bulker owners listed in the US. Ships by Genco Shipping & Trading and Eagle Bulk have been targeted as well over the past few weeks.
Attack in the Red Sea
US and UK authorities also confirmed a separate Houthi attack with three missiles in the Red Sea against the Morning Tide, whose registered owner — according to the S&P Global data base — is UK-based Furadino Holdings.
All missiles “impacted the water near the ship without effect”, Centcom said.
Ambrey, by contrast, reported “minor damage” on the port side of the Barbados-flagged, UK-owned general cargo ship that was underway in a south-east direction 57 miles (106 km) west of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.
No crew injuries were reported and the Morning Tide continued on its journey as well.
In a separate note on the same incident, the UK Maritime Trade Operations relayed reports by the vessel’s master that “a projectile was fired at his vessel on the port side, which passed over the deck, causing slight damage to the bridge windows”.
The master had previously seen a small craft on the ship’s port side.
The strikes against the Star Nasia and the Morning Tide mark attacks number 50 and 51 carried out by the Houthis against commercial and warships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since 19 November, according to a list of maritime security incidents compiled by the European Union’s NAVFOR force.
The only deaths so far in the incidents are 10 Houthi fighters killed by US forces at the end of December, when they were trying to board an AP Moller-Maersk container ship.
The Houthis have also claimed that a number of people have been killed in retaliatory air strikes by US and UK warships and fighter plans against targets in Yemen.
The Houthis’ stated goal is to attack ships owned by or trading with Israel, or affiliated with that country’s Western allies, to put pressure on Israel to stop its war against the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza.
However, EU NAVFOR has warned that “the increasing number of ships being targeted, despite no apparent evidence of a link with any of these countries, underscores the notion that any ship is susceptible to Houthi targeting”.
“Additionally, there are indications that the Houthis might be capitalising on outdated information regarding ship ownership in certain instances,” the EU’s naval force added.
The Houthi campaign has been highly effective in disrupting ship traffic through the key water way, from the Suez Canal to the Bab el-Mandeb strait.
The vast majority of container ship and LNG carrier traffic has come to a halt while tanker and bulker traffic has been curtailed as well, although not to the same degree.
Suez Canal revenue has also taken a heavy blow in the process.
