Attacks in the Red Sea
Missile hits Greek freighter off Yemen
January 16, 2024, 6:50 p.m
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Houthi fighters have been attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea for months. Shipping companies are redirecting their ships. Now another rocket has hit a freighter. The Greek ship was on its way from Vietnam to Israel. The USA previously reported a Houthi attack on a container ship.
Against the backdrop of repeated attacks by the Houthi militia on merchant ships in the Red Sea, a Greek cargo ship has now been hit by a missile off the coast of Yemen. A Greek-owned merchant ship flying the flag of Malta was reportedly hit while transiting the Red Sea, security firm Ambrey said. After the incident, the ship changed course and headed for a port, it said. The British Maritime Security Agency (UKMTO) also reported an “incident” in an area 76 miles northwest of the Yemeni port of Salif, but gave no further details.
Circles at the Greek Ministry of Shipping said that the freighter was the “Zografia”, which was traveling from Vietnam to Israel with 24 crew members on board. No one was injured in the attack. The ship also suffered only “limited damage” and was able to continue its journey, it said. A company security officer reported that the ship had been hit by an unknown object in the cargo hold.
The Iran-backed Houthi fighters in Yemen have been attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea for over three months. Around ten percent of world trade passes through this route. As a result, shipping there has partially come to a standstill and many shipping companies are diverting their ships. There was initially no reaction from the Houthis to the latest attack on the Greek freighter.
Attack on container ship in the Red Sea
According to US information, the Yemeni Houthis had previously attacked a container ship in the Red Sea on Monday. The responsible regional command of the US military announced on X that the militiamen had fired an anti-ship ballistic missile at the M/V Gibraltar Eagle. It was therefore shot down from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. According to the information, the ship was a US freighter flying the flag of the Marshall Islands. There were no injuries or damage.
In the early afternoon, the US military said it had already registered an attempted attack in the Red Sea. A missile was fired at shipping routes in the southern Red Sea. However, the rocket hit land in Yemen. The Iran-backed Houthis did not initially comment. A spokesman said they would continue to attack ships in the Red Sea that were heading toward Israel or whose countries of origin supported Israel.
US military seizes Iranian missile parts
In response to the Houthi attacks, the USA and Great Britain bombed militia positions in Yemen from the air for the first time last Friday. On Sunday, US forces shot down a Houthi cruise missile targeting an American destroyer; On Monday, a US cargo ship was hit by another missile in the Gulf of Oman.
Meanwhile, the US military announced that it had seized Iranian-made missile parts on a boat in the Arabian Sea, which were presumably on their way to the Houthis in Yemen. It was the first seizure of “lethal, Iranian-supplied advanced conventional weapons” for the Houthis since their attacks on merchant ships began last November, it said.
Accordingly, components of both “Iranian-made ballistic missiles” and “cruise missiles” were discovered during the operation on January 11 near the Somali coast. Initial investigations indicate that the same weapons were used by the Houthis to threaten and attack international merchant ships in the Red Sea. The weapon parts were confiscated on a traditional sailing boat with 14 men on board.
Houthis, Hamas and Hezbollah as an “axis of resistance”
The Houthis launched their series of rocket and drone attacks in the Red Sea after the war between Israel and the radical Islamic group Hamas began on October 7th. The Shiite militia members see themselves as part of the self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance” directed against Israel, which includes the Islamist Hamas and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to their own statements, the Houthis primarily target ships with connections to Israel.
Qatar warned that the conflict in the Red Sea also threatened the transport of liquefied natural gas. LNG is “like any other transport commodity,” said Qatari Prime Minister Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The escalation in the sea off the Yemeni coast will have a negative impact on this.
The direct consequences of the Houthi attacks on merchant ships for consumers in Europe have so far been limited. However, they raise fears that the war between Israel and Hamas could spread to the entire region. Qatar is one of the world’s major suppliers of liquefied natural gas.