DUBAI (Reuters): Yemen’s Houthis targeted the Rubymar cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden and it is now at risk of sinking, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement on Monday.
The ship is British and the crew are safe, he said, adding the Houthis had also shot down a US drone in Hodeidah.
A Belize-flagged, UK-registered and Lebanese-operated open hatch general cargo ship came under attack in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait off Yemen on Sunday, British maritime security firm Ambrey said.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported the crew had abandoned a ship off Yemen after an explosion.
The attack on the ship came as the US military acknowledged conducting new airstrikes targeting the militia, including one that targeted the first Houthi underwater drone seen since the militia’s began launching their attacks on shipping in November.
The ship targeted in the Houthi attack Sunday reported sustaining damage after “an explosion in close proximity to the vessel,” the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported.
The private security firm Ambrey reported the British-registered, Lebanese-operated cargo ship had been on its way to Bulgaria after leaving Khorfakkan in the United Arab Emirates.
Ship-tracking data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by The Associated Press identified the vessel targeted as the Rubymar. Its Beirut-based manager could not be immediately reached for comment.
Ambrey described the ship as being partially laden with cargo, but it wasn’t immediately clear what it had been carrying. The ship had turned off its Automatic Identification System tracker while in the Arabian Gulf early this month.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, though a military spokesman for the militia, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said a statement on their activities likely would be released sometime Monday morning.
Since November, the militia has repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea and surrounding waters over Israel’s war targeting Hamas in the Gaza Strip. They have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for trade among Asia, the Mideast and Europe. Those vessels have included at least one with cargo for Iran, its main benefactor.
Meanwhile, the US military’s Central Command reported it carried out five airstrikes targeting Houthi military equipment. Those strikes targeted mobile anti-ship cruise missiles, an explosive-carrying drone boat and an “unmanned underwater vessel,” Central Command said.
“This is the first observed Houthi employment of a UUV since attacks began in Oct. 23,” Central Command said.
