DUBAI, UAE — Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a missile attack on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, killing three crew members and forcing survivors to evacuate the vessel, according to the U.S. Navy. It was the first lethal blow in the Iranian-backed group’s campaign against Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The attack on the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier True Confidence exacerbates the violence on a critical maritime corridor that connects Asia and the Middle East to Europe, disrupting global transportation. The Houthis have been attacking since November, and the United States launched an airstrike campaign in January that has yet to stop them.

Meanwhile, Iran announced Wednesday that it will detain a $50 million cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil for American energy company Chevron Corp. from a tanker it captured nearly a year ago. It is the latest twist in a long-running shadow war in the Middle East’s waterways that began before the Houthi attacks.

Houthi Missile Attack Kills Three Crew Members In Yemen Rebels’ First Fatal Assault On Shipping

According to the U.S. Central Command, an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled region in Yemen struck the True Confidence, causing serious damage. In addition to the three deaths, at least four crew members were injured, three of them are in severe condition.

Officials claim that after men claiming to be from the Yemeni military radioed the ship, the incident took place. Since the commencement of their operations, the Houthis have been hailing ships over the radio in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, leading observers to believe the rebels aim to seize the vessels.

Following the missile strike, the crew abandoned the ship and launched lifeboats. A US warship and the Indian navy were on the scene, attempting to aid with rescue efforts. How many crew members were on board at the time was not apparent.

The United Nations urged the Houthis “to cease all attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea,” according to U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric, expressing significant concern about the ongoing attacks, especially the most recent incident in which the crew’s status is unclear.

Dujarric says the attacks endanger “property, life, and the ecology of the area.”

Matthew Miller, spokesman for the State Department in Washington, denounced the attack. “We continue to observe these irresponsible attacks with no consideration for the safety of innocent citizens traveling across the Red Sea. And now they’ve killed innocent bystanders, which is regrettable and tragic,” he told reporters.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prepared statement, claiming that missile fire ignited the vessel. He stated that the rebels’ strikes will end only when the “siege on the Palestinian people in Gaza is lifted.”

Throughout the Israel-Hamas battle, the rebels have routinely targeted ships in the Red Sea and nearby waterways, but no crew members have been killed as of Wednesday. At least one of the ships was carrying supplies intended for Iran, the Houthis’ primary patron, and another was carrying aid to Houthi-controlled territory.

Houthi Missile Attack Kills Three Crew Members In Yemen Rebels’ First Fatal Assault On Shipping

Despite more than a month and a half of US-led airstrikes, Houthi rebels have continued to undertake substantial attacks. They include last month’s attack on the Rubymar, a cargo ship carrying fertilizer that sank on Saturday after drifting for many days, as well as the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.

It needed to be clarified why the Houthis targeted True Confidence. However, it was formerly owned by Oaktree Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based fund that financed vessels in instalments. Oaktree has declined to comment.

Meanwhile, a separate Houthi attack on Tuesday appeared to target the USS Carney, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that has been involved in the American operation against the rebels. According to Central Command, the Carney fired down bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile. Saree recognized the attack as well.

The United States later launched an airstrike, destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, according to Central Command.

The Houthis have not provided an assessment of the damage done in the American-led attacks that began in January, but they have stated that at least 22 of their fighters have been killed. A civilian has reportedly been slain.

Separately, the U.S. Treasury imposed further penalties against a Houthi financier and the expeditionary Quds Force of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which provides arms to the rebels.

The Houthis have controlled Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014. Since 2015, they have been fighting a Saudi-led coalition in a long-running conflict.

Meanwhile, the Indian Navy posted a video of sailors from the INS Kolkata extinguishing a fire on the MSC Sky II, which the Houthis targeted in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. The Mediterranean Shipping Co., based in Switzerland, said the missile struck the ship while it was heading from Singapore to Djibouti. Nobody was wounded.

In a separate statement, the state-run Mizan news agency for the judiciary confirmed the seizure of crude oil aboard the Advantage Sweet. At the time, Iran claimed that the Advantage Sweet crashed with another ship but provided no evidence.

Houthi Missile Attack Kills Three Crew Members In Yemen Rebels’ First Fatal Assault On Shipping

The court order for the seizure stated a completely different cause for the confiscation. Mizan said it was part of a court ruling over U.S. sanctions that prohibited the importation of a Swedish drug used to treat patients with epidermolysis bullosa, a rare hereditary illness that creates blisters all over the body and in the eyes. It did not reconcile the many causes of the seizure.

The Advantage Sweet was in the Persian Gulf in late April, but its path through the Strait of Hormuz, which transports one-fifth of all traded oil, revealed no abnormal behavior. Iran has made claims in previous seizures that ultimately fell apart when it became evident that Tehran was attempting to use the capture as a bargaining point in negotiations with Western states.

Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, said Wednesday that the Advantage Sweet was “seized under false pretenses” and that the firm “has not had any direct communication with Iran over the seizure of the vessel.”

“Chevron has not been permitted access to the vessel and considers the cargo a total loss due to Iran’s illegal actions,” the company said in a statement. “We now consider the cargo the responsibility of the Iranian government.”

Ship seizures and explosions have wreaked havoc on the region since 2019. The incidents began after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Iran’s nuclear agreement with other powers.

SOURCE – (AP)