International governments failed to act against Houthi aggression in the Red Sea despite repeated warnings about the group’s use of mines and sea drones before the latest wave of attacks against commercial shipping, the internationally recognised government of Yemen said.
In a submission to the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations-backed administration, the rival of the Houthi regime, said that it did not receive “any serious response” after it warned of the dangers during the country’s civil war.
The Iran-backed regime has been linked to more than 20 sea drone attacks from 2017 to 2021 during fighting against a Saudi-led coalition.
The coalition was seeking to unseat the Houthis after the group seized control of the capital Sanaa in 2014.
The attacks, which mainly targeted Saudi interests, saw a sea drone carrying explosives damage a Hafnia LR1 tanker in December 2020.
The 76,600-dwt BW Rhine (built 2008) was discharging a cargo of gasoline at the Red Sea port of Jeddah when it was hit, causing damage to a cargo tank and a water ballast tank.
The same month, a Saudi Arabian-owned cargo ship was damaged after hitting a mine in the southern Red Sea.
The Saudis said in November 2020 that it had destroyed 163 sea mines left by the Houthis. The previous year, the coalition claimed to have destroyed four sites at Hodeidah used to build sea drones and sea mines.
“The legitimate government made repeated calls regarding the danger of the Houthi practices in the Red Sea,” said the government, which is based in the southern port of Aden after being ousted from Sanaa in 2014.
“The legitimate government did not receive any serious response from the international community.”
Random mines
The Houthis continued to “randomly plant sea mines” and threaten commercial ships from time to time.
It added: “The world hardly responded to these threats until the matter reached what it has reached today.”
The Houthis control large swathes of the country, including most of the west of the country and the key Red Sea port of Hodeidah.
The most recent attack on Monday saw the Houthis target a bulk carrier in a missile attack that was carrying grain from Argentina to Aden, the seat of its UN-backed rival.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks since November with the tempo quickening and using new techniques.
An underwater drone was destroyed by US forces on Saturday, the first known instance of the Houthis using such a device in its attacks over the last three months.
The attacks are part of a policy to pressure Israel to stop the war it wages in Gaza.
Its declared targets are ships linked or trading with Israel or belonging to companies in the US and the UK, forces of which have been bombing the Houthis in retaliation.
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