Another cargo ship was attacked and damaged off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday. The British Navy Office responsible for merchant shipping safety (UKMTO) said the merchant ship was hit and damaged by a missile about 50 nautical miles southwest of the port city of Aden. The crew has left the “True Confidence” and the ship is drifting in the sea without a rudder. An earlier report said crews from nearby ships heard a loud bang and a large cloud of smoke.
According to UKMTO, the ship was previously forced to change course by a ship that supposedly belonged to the Yemeni Navy. According to the tracking service Vesselfinder, the “True Confidence” sails under the flag of Barbados.
According to the British Embassy, two people were killed in the attack. It would be the first deadly attack since the Houthi rebels attacked merchant ships.
The Houthi militia in Yemen claimed responsibility for the attack on the ship. A statement on Wednesday evening said the militia had attacked the freighter with “a series of appropriate naval missiles.” A fire broke out on the ship as a result of the attack. According to the Houthi, the crew ignored previous warnings.
In recent weeks and months, the Islamist Houthi militia in Yemen has repeatedly targeted civilian merchant ships. The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip and are directing their attacks on freighters with alleged connections to Israel, the USA or Great Britain. They had recently announced that they would intensify their attacks.
One of the most important shipping routes for world trade runs along Yemen, through which freighters from the Indian Ocean reach the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal in Egypt. In response to the attacks, the USA and Great Britain carried out several military strikes against Houthi positions in Yemen. The EU has also launched a military operation to protect merchant shipping in the Red Sea, in which Germany is participating with the frigate “Hessen”.
