Three merchant mariners were killed after a Yemeni Houthi missile struck their cargo vessel as they transited the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.
The Barbados-flagged bulk carrier vessel True Confidence was struck as it passed near Yemen on its way from Singapore to the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM)—the combatant command in charge of U.S. military operations throughout the Middle East—said Houthis struck the ship with an anti-ship ballistic missile, killing three and wounding four more, with three of the wounded in critical condition. CENTCOM said the attack caused significant damage to the ship, and the crew abandoned the vessel.
“Coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation,” CENTCOM added.
Yahya Sare‘e, a spokesperson for the Houthi terrorist movement, claimed Houthi responsibility for the attack in a Wednesday press statement. The Houthi spokesman said the Yemeni rebels launched the missile after the ship rejected warning messages from Houthi forces. Mr. Sare’e said the vessel caught fire after it was hit.
For months, Houthi terrorists have harassed international shipments with drone and missile attacks. They insisted these attacks are targeting vessels associated with Israel and its allies and are in response to Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.
Most of these Houthi attacks on international merchant crews have missed their marks or been intercepted, though a few have caused damage to vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden and adjoining Red Sea shipping lanes. Wednesday’s attack marks the first time the Houthi efforts to disrupt international shipping have resulted in fatalities.
Houthi Attacks Continue
The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah, have intermittently fought with Yemen’s internationally recognized government and its Saudi Arabian allies for years. The faction seized control of the Yemeni capital city of Sana’a in 2014. While the Yemeni civil war has waned in more recent months with moves toward a ceasefire in the country, the Houthis have turned their attention toward the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip.The U.S. government has intermittently characterized the Houthis as a terrorist organization. The Yemeni faction was listed as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) and as a specially designated global terrorist entity (SDGT) in the final days of President Donald Trump’s presidency in January 2021. President Joe Biden’s administration revoked the terrorism labels in February of 2021 but reapplied the SDGT designation against the group in January as the Houthi attacks on maritime traffic continued.
On Feb. 18, a Houthi missile struck the British-owned bulk carrier ship called the Rubymar, causing more severe damage that forced the crew to abandon the ship. The Rubymar remained adrift for nearly two weeks before it finally sank on Friday, making it the first vessel the terror group has sunk in its pressure campaign against Israel and the West.
It remains to be seen whether True Confidence will similarly sink after Wednesday’s attack.
Addressing the attacks in a Feb. 20 press briefing, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the Houthis “are getting more sophisticated.” While U.S. forces have intercepted some Houthi drone and missile barrages and struck suspected launch sites in Yemen, Ms. Singh acknowledged that “sometimes the attacks do get through.”
In his statement on Wednesday, Mr. Sare'e said the Houthis will persist with their attacks “until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted.” The aggression the Houthi terrorist referenced is the ongoing Israeli military response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on southern Israel in which more than 1,100 people were killed, and hundreds more were wounded and taken hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to eliminate Hamas after the Oct. 7 attack.
The ongoing Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip has met some international condemnation amid indications that nearly 2 million Gazans have been internally displaced by the fighting, with tens of thousands more killed, wounded, or missing.
