Ship off the coast of Yemen ablaze after being struck
A ship in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen caught fire after being hit by a shell, the British military said, with a report suggesting the crew was preparing to abandon ship.
The incident occurred as Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked ships along the Red Sea corridor. The rebels did not immediately claim responsibility for this attack, but it could take hours or even days for them to do so.
The British army’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center issued a warning about the ship and announced that the incident occurred approximately 210 kilometers east of Aden.
“A ship was struck by an unknown shell, resulting in a fire,” UKMTO said.
“Authorities are investigating.”
Maritime security firm Ambrey said the ship was a Cameroonian-flagged tanker “heading from Sohar, Oman, towards Djibouti.” He said radio traffic showed the crew was preparing to abandon ship and search-and-rescue efforts were ongoing.
It turned out that the details presented about the ship resembled the Cameroonian-flagged tanker Falcon, which carries liquefied petroleum gas.
The Falcon was previously alleged by United Against Nuclear Iran, a New York-based pressure group, to be operating in a “ghost fleet” of Iranian ships transporting oil products on the high seas despite international sanctions.
The owners and operators of the ship, which is said to be in India, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Israeli army said that they were aware of the attack on the ship but did not conduct any operations in the region.
The Houthis gained international notoriety for attacks on ships and Israel during the Israel-Hamas war, which they said were aimed at forcing Israel to stop the war. No attacks have been claimed by the rebel group since the ceasefire began on October 10.
The Houthis’ campaign against shipping has killed at least nine sailors and caused the sinking of four ships. It disrupted shipping in the Red Sea, where before the war about US$1 trillion ($A1.5 trillion) of goods passed each year. The last attack of the rebels was on the Dutch-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht on September 29, in which one crew member died and another was injured.
Meanwhile, the Houthis increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia and captured dozens of workers at United Nations agencies and other aid groups, claiming they were spies; this was vehemently denied by the world establishment and others.
