A direct attack on a bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden today killed members of the ship's crew, marking the first fatalities from attacks on commercial shipping by Yemen's Houthi militants.
The bulk carrier True Confidence suffered a hit and the crew abandoned the ship following the attack, the UK Maritime Trade Organization said. Ships describing themselves as the "Yemeni Navy," a designation used by the Houthi militant group's naval arm, approached the True Confidence, which was moving toward the Red Sea, and forced the bulk carrier to alter course, UK maritime security firm Ambrey said. A Houthi spokesperson said that the bulk carrier was targeted because it was a US-owned vessel.
The True Confidence is Barbados-flagged and Liberia-owned, the White House said. "It was not a US ship, contrary to what the Houthis claimed," it said.
The US State Department said the fatalities were the first among commercial ship crews since since Houthis started to attack ships transiting near Yemen in November.
"That was, sadly, inevitable," the State Department said. "The Houthis have continued to launch the reckless attacks with no regard for the well being of innocent civilians who are transiting through the Red Sea. And now, they have, unfortunately and tragically, killed innocent civilians."
The attacks by the Houthi militants have prompted many vessel operators to take the longer and more expensive route around the Cape of Good Hope, driving up freight rates. No LNG carriers have transited the Suez Canal this month either, following attacks on shipping by the Houthis in recent months.
The US strategy of conducting air strikes against targets in Yemen, patrolling the Red Sea and trying to choke off supply of Iranian materiel to the Houthis has so far not succeeded in stopping the attacks.
A senior US defense official told a Senate panel last week that the Pentagon has no definite end in sight for its campaign of air and missiles strikes against Houthi militants in Yemen, implying that the threat to Red Sea shipping lanes could remain acute for months to come.
