AL-MUKALLA: The Houthis reportedly targeted another commercial vessel near Yemen’s remote Socotra Island on Monday.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations, the agency that tracks attacks on shipping, said it received a warning from a ship’s master about an explosion close to the ship. It occurred in an area 246 nautical miles southeast of Nishtun, a town in the Yemeni province of Mahra, close to Yemen’s remote Socotra island.
The agency said the crew was safe and the ship was moving toward its next port of call. It was the second incident in the area reported by the UKMTO in just 24 hours.
The Houthis on Sunday, claimed responsibility for two other strikes on commercial shipping. A ship called the Transworld Navigator was attacked with an explosive-laden drone in the Red Sea while another ship called the Stolt Sequoia was targeted with ballistic missiles in the Indian Ocean, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a televised statement. He blamed the owners of the ships for violating the militia’s ban on shipping to Israeli ports.
According to the Marine Traffic ship-tracking app, the Stolt Sequoia, a Liberian-flagged oil and chemical vassal was travelling from Bahrain to France.
The US Central Command on Sunday reported that the Houthis were believed to have used a drone to strike the Transworld Navigator, a Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned cargo ship travelling from Malaysia to Egypt.
Since their attacks on shipping started in November, the Houthis have sunk two vessels, captured one and fired hundreds of ballistic missiles, drones and remote-controlled, explosive-laden boats at commercial and naval ships in the Red Sea. They say their campaign is to put pressure on Israel to end its war in Gaza.
Yemenis have accused Houthi leaders of using the public outrage in Yemen over the killing of civilians in Gaza in an attempt to divert attention from their own internal problems.
