(Dubai) Yemeni Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for an attack on a commercial ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday night, the latest attack in their campaign of “solidarity” with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, the Houthis said they carried out a “military operation targeting the Tutor ship in the Red Sea, using a maritime drone, aerial drones and ballistic missiles.”
Earlier, two British security companies said a merchant ship made a distress call on Wednesday after being hit in the Red Sea off Yemen.
The ship was hit about 68 nautical miles southwest of Hodeida, a rebel-held port in western Yemen, according to the Ambrey firm.
The company said in a statement that “the ship matches the profile of targets (generally targeted) by the Houthis”, without giving further details.
Later, another security company, UKMTO, clarified that the Tutor ship, a bulk carrier flying the flag of Liberia according to various sites specializing in maritime traffic, had been hit by a device “white in color and five to seven meters long. long “.
“The ship has taken on water and is no longer under the control of the crew,” the company said, citing the ship’s captain.
She added that the ship had been “hit a second time by an unidentified aerial projectile” and that military authorities were providing assistance to the boat.
In power in a large part of Yemen at war since their capture of the capital Sanaa in 2014, these allies of Iran say they are acting in “solidarity” with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is waging a war against Hamas after the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7 on Israeli soil.
Since November, Yemeni rebels have launched several dozen drone and missile strikes against ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, disrupting global maritime trade in this strategic area.
In response to the Houthi attacks, the United States in December set up a multinational force to protect shipping in the Red Sea and launched, with help from the United Kingdom, strikes in Yemen against the rebels.
The US military command for the Middle East (Centcom) said on Tuesday that it had “destroyed” two anti-ship missiles launched from areas of Yemen under Houthi control.
