DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked a Liberian-flagged chemical tanker in the Red Sea on Thursday, authorities said.
The attack comes as rebels continue to threaten ships passing through the Red Sea, through which $1 trillion in goods once flowed annually, over ongoing conflict in the Middle East stemming from the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. It was done.
The Olympic Spirit tanker was sailing in the Red Sea and was detouring around the coast of East Africa when it was first struck by a projectile, damaging its hull, the British military’s Royal Maritime Trade Operations Center said. It was announced that no fire broke out and no one was injured.
At least three more projectiles then fell into the waters around the ship. The city was far from Hodeidah, the Houthi-controlled port where many of the rebel attacks were launched.
Brigadier General Yahya Salih, the Houthi military spokesperson, claimed the attack on Olympic Spirit in a prerecorded video message aired Thursday night. He claimed that the rebels fired multiple ballistic missiles at the tanker.
Since the war in Gaza began in October, the Houthis have targeted more than 80 commercial ships with missiles and drones. In this operation, they captured one ship, sunk two others, and killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones were intercepted by the U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, including Western warships.
The rebels claim they are targeting ships with ties to Israel, the United States, or the United Kingdom in order to force an end to Israel’s operations against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked had little or no connection to the conflict, including those bound for Iran.
Regarding Thursday’s attack, private security firm Ambry said it had “assessed that the ship had strong links to the Houthi target profile,” without providing further details.
