Attacks damage two ships off Yemen

Published October 2, 2024
Panama-flagged tanker Cordelia Moon transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey, August 25, 2024. — Reuters
Panama-flagged tanker Cordelia Moon transits the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey, August 25, 2024. — Reuters

DUBAI: Two ships were damaged in separate attacks off Yemen on Tuesday, a British maritime agency said, as regional tensions soared during Israel’s offensive on Lebanon. Both vessels reported that their crews were safe.

One ship was hit by a sea drone, puncturing a ballast tank, and a second vessel was damaged by a missile less than three hours later, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.

In the first attack, a port-side ballast tank, used to adjust buoyancy, was holed by an “uncrewed surface vessel”, UKMTO, which is run by Britain’s Royal Navy, said in a statement.

The same ship, sailing 64 nautical miles northwest of Hodeida, had come under threat earlier on Tuesday, UKMTO said. The vessel had earlier reported seeing four splashes in the water close to it, which a maritime security source said were attempted missile attacks.

The second vessel, which sources said was a Liberia-flagged bulker, sustained damage after it was hit by a missile about 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah, Ambrey and maritime security sources said. The firm said it was bound for Suez.

Yemen’s Houthi later claimed the attack on the Cordelia Moon, saying that it was struck with eight ballistic and winged missiles, a drone and an uncrewed surface boat.

They also said they had targeted a third ship, Marathopolis, in the Indian Ocean with a drone and with a winged missile.

Months of Houthi drone and missile attacks have disrupted maritime traffic in the Red Sea and triggered reprisal strikes by the United States and Britain against Houthi targets in Yemen.

Houthis have targeted ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since November in what they describe as support for Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree on Tuesday pledged “practical support for the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples until the (Israeli) aggression is defeated and its criminal plans and expansionist conspiracies are thwarted”.

On Sunday, Israeli air strikes hit Hodeida after the Houthis said they fired a missile at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

Ultimate price
02 Nov, 2024

Ultimate price

AS the world marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists today, the dangers...
Mastung bombing
02 Nov, 2024

Mastung bombing

INSTABILITY continues to haunt Balochistan, as Friday morning’s bombing in Mastung has shown. At least nine...
Plane speak
02 Nov, 2024

Plane speak

DESPITE all its efforts to facilitate PIA’s privatisation, it seems the government only ended up being taken for a...
Seeking investment
Updated 01 Nov, 2024

Seeking investment

Foreign visits will be fruitless unless crucial structural, policy reforms directly affecting investors are focused.
State-backed terror
01 Nov, 2024

State-backed terror

OVER the past year or so, India’s reportedly malign activities in foreign countries have increasingly come under the radar, with
Shared crisis
01 Nov, 2024

Shared crisis

WITH Lahore experiencing unprecedented levels of smog, the Punjab government has announced a series of “green...