A small clean tanker reported damage after suffering three attacks with unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea.
According to the UK Maritime Trade Operations, one unknown projectile hit the unidentified ship as it was sailing close to the Eritrean coast at 00:10 GMT, 70 nautical miles (81 km) south-west of the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah.
Maritime intelligence firm Diaplous said that the projectile was likely an aerial drone that struck the ship’s bridge, causing “light damage”.
The master of the same vessel later reported two more projectiles exploding in close proximity.
However, none of the vessel’s crew came to harm, and the ship is set to continue its southbound journey after requiring assistance from Western warships in the area.
Vessel tracking services and industry sources indicated that the vessel under attack was the 20,600-dwt Olympic Spirit (built 2007), which is underway with a cargo of vegetable oil from Kaliningrad, Russia, to China.
Houthi military spokesman Ameen Hayyan confirmed on X that the group targeted the tanker.
The ship is under the management of Piraeus-based Dynamic Shipmanagement.
The S&P Global shipping database, however, also links the vessel to Oaktree Capital Management LP.
Managers at Dynamic, however, said that the Oaktree information is wrong.
TradeWinds understands that Oaktree had financed the vessel in the past but is no longer affiliated with it.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have not made any statements about the incident yet. Still, they are known to be targeting ships linked or affiliated with Western countries that back Israel in its war against the Hamas and Hezbollah groups that the Houthis are supporting.
The strike against the Olympic Spirit is the 127th maritime incident classified by UKMTO as an attack since the Houthi campaign began in mid-November 2023, curtailing traffic through the Red Sea.
The Olympic Spirit is not linked in any way to Onassis firm Olympic Shipping and Management, which uses to name its vessels in a similar way.
