A tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen was fired on by gunmen from a speedboat and targeted with missiles, maritime sources said on Wednesday, in the latest incident to threaten the shipping lane after Yemeni Houthi terrorists warned ships not to travel to Israel.
A second vessel was also approached by the speedboat in the same area but was not engaged, British maritime security firm Ambrey said.
Ever since Israel’s offensive into Gaza, the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist group has sought to support their Palestinian ally Hamas by firing missiles at and conducting drone attacks on Israeli and at Israel-bound ships.
“Houthis continue to attack international shipping focusing on ships which in their opinion have a link to Israeli interests or nationals,” Jakob Larsen, head of safety and security at shipping association BIMCO, told Reuters. “The safety implications to international shipping are considerable and very concerning.”
“It is pure luck no seafarers have been killed yet,” he added.
Ambrey said a Marshall Islands-flagged chemical tanker reported an “exchange of fire” with a speedboat some 55 nautical miles off Hodeidah on the coast of Yemen, saying the boat opened fire as it approached. Ambrey said the tanker was targeted by three missiles.
Another security source, who asked not to be named, told Reuters two missiles were fired, with one of them brought down by an anti-missile battery and the second falling into the sea.
Ambrey said the chemical tanker had been hailed by an entity claiming to be the Yemeni Navy. The entity asked the tanker to change course, but a nearby warship advised the vessel to maintain its original course.
A vehicle transport ship, the Galaxy Leader, was hijacked in November by the Houthi terrorist group and is still being held near the Yemeni port city of Hodeida.
Several vessels of the Coalition Task Force (CTF) Sentinel, the operational arm of the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) that includes navies from the U.S., Great Britain, and others, operates in the area to provide assistance and protection to commercial shipping.
The Houthi terrorists are based in the capital Sanaa in the north of a country devastated by years of war. The group announced Saturday that they would attack every Israeli-owned or Israel-bound ship passing through the busy Bab al-Mandab Strait at the southern entrance to the Red Sea unless more food and medicine were allowed into the besieged Gaza Strip.
However, a Norwegian-flagged tanker destined for Italy was hit by an anti-ship cruise missile on Dec. 11. A Houthi spokesperson claimed that the ship was heading toward Israel, but without offering any evidence. A fire broke out on the ship, but no crew were harmed.
Israel has asked the international community to act quickly to protect global shipping lanes, adding that Israel will take matters into its own hands if the situation persists.
Separately, Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported that five or six small boats, with machine guns mounted on their bows, shadowed a ship in the Arabian Sea for over one hour some 90 nautical miles off the Omani coastal town of Duqm on Dec. 13. The boats did not engage the ship, it said.
The UKMTO advised ships to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity.
Reuters contributed to this report.