WASHINGTON/DUBAI (Reuters) – An anti-ship missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels damaged an oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden, the Marlin Luanda, on Friday, but no injuries were reported and the crew survived A fire broke out on board, the US military and raw materials trader Trafigura said.
“All crew members on board the Marlin Luanda are safe and the fire in the tank has been fully extinguished. The ship is now heading to a safe port,” Trafigura said in a statement, adding that Indian, American and French naval boats had helped the crew put out the fire.
The U.S. military earlier said a U.S. Navy ship and other boats were coming to the aid of the Marlin Luanda after a Houthi missile strike.
Yemen’s Houthi militants, allied with Iran, have launched drone and missile attacks at sea since November 19, in response to Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Some shipping companies have suspended their transit through the Red Sea and opted for much longer and more expensive journeys around Africa.
Houthi attacks have mainly targeted container ships crossing the Red Sea. Many tankers continued to use this route.
The Marshall Islands-flagged Marlin Luanda issued a distress call Friday and reported damage, U.S. Central Command said in a message on X, formerly Twitter. The USS Carney and other coalition ships provided assistance to the tanker.
The boat was carrying Russian naphtha purchased at a price below the ceiling set under G7 sanctions, a Trafigura spokesperson said on Friday.
US and British warplanes, ships and submarines have responded to Houthi attacks in recent weeks with dozens of airstrikes across Yemen.
About eight hours after the incident involving the Marlin Luanda, the US military destroyed a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed at the Red Sea and ready for launch, Central Command said.
The missile “posed an imminent threat to merchant ships and U.S. Navy vessels in the region,” the command added.
The Houthis’ Al-Masira TV said on Saturday that the United States and Britain had launched two airstrikes targeting the port of Ras Issa, Yemen’s main oil export terminal.
(Reporting Eric Beech in Washington, Muhammad Al Gebaly and Nilutpal Timsina in Dubai; French version Benjamin Mallet)
©2024 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.