LOS ANGELES: Two commercial ships have bee damaged by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in missile attacks over the last day in the Gulf of Aden while keeping on with their ongoing campaign against global maritime traffic, US Central Command (CENTCOM) reports on Sunday.
The Iran-allied Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile that struck the Tavvishi, a Liberian-flagged and Swiss-operated container ship, according to CENTCOM. However, no one aboard was hurt though the ship suffered some damage, CENTCOM stated.
German-owned cargo vessel Norderney, which sails under Antigua and Barbados flags, came under attack from two Houthi missiles. CENTCOM indicated that this did not harm its personnel but affected the vessel’s structure as it continued with its journey.
Earlier on, the Houthis had claimed responsibility for attacking the Tavvishi and Norderney; they also claimed to have set fire to the latter.
LSEG data has MSC Ship Management as Tavvishi’s manager. Reuters couldn’t immediately get hold of them for comment. LSEG lists Sunship Schiffahrtskontor as the manager of Norderney; however we were unable to reach them for comments either.
Houthis govern most populous parts of Yemen and have been attacking merchant vessels since November in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. The militants have sunk one ship, seized a different vessel and killed three crew members in a yet another attack.
Their blockade has interrupted world trade by compelling countless ships to change course away from Suez Canal through Africa. Furthermore this kindled fears that Israel-Hamas conflict could spread further destabilizing Middle East region at large.
The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets following these attacks.
On Sunday CENTCOM also said that its forces destroyed an unmanned aerial system above Gulf of Aden along with two land-attack cruise missiles and one missile launcher in Yemeni areas under Houthi control.
