A British-owned cargo ship has become the latest vessel in the Red Sea to be hit by hostile fire from the Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The Morning Tide, a dry bulk carrier flying under the flag of Barbados, was hit by a missile just after midnight local time on Tuesday as it headed from Varna in Bulgaria to Singapore with an unspecified cargo.
Its owner, London-based Furadino Shipping, told The Associated Press that nobody had been hurt in the attack and the ship was continuing on course towards its destination.
The Houthis’ military spokesman, Yahya Sare'e, said it fired missiles at the Morning Tide and another ship, the Star Nasia, which was flying under the flag of the Marshall Islands but is believed to belong to a firm based in the United States.
Mr. Sare'e said: “As a response to the U.S.–UK aggression on Yemen, the Yemeni armed forces’ navy carried out two military operations in the Red Sea. The first target was the American Star Nasia ship and the other target was the British Morning Tide ship. Both ships were accurately hit with anti-ship missiles.”
UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the attack happened west of the Yemeni port of Hodeida, which has been hit recently by British and U.S. military strikes designed to stop the Houthis’ targeting of shipping.
The UKMTO said the Morning Tide’s captain was “aware of a small craft on his port side” before a missile was fired at his ship.
Some of the windows on the ship’s bridge windows were damaged but nobody was injured.
Iran–Hamas–Houthi Axis
The Houthis, which are closely allied to Iran, claim their actions are a response to Israel’s war against another Iranian ally, Hamas, in Gaza.Hamas launched terrorist attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, which killed 1,200 civilians and military personnel.
Since then the Israelis have hit back with air strikes and then a ground offensive which have claimed the lives of more than 20,000 people, including hundreds of Hamas terrorists, according to Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
The Red Sea is a key international shipping route as most vessels travelling between Europe and Asia use it to reach the Suez Canal and avoid a huge diversion around the continent of Africa.
A U.S.-led initiative, Operation Prosperity Guardian, has been offering military protection to commercial shipping in the Red Sea, but it is finding it hard to counter the Houthis’ small attack boats.
The Royal Navy has replaced HMS Diamond in the Red Sea with another Type 23 frigate, HMS Richmond.
HMS Diamond has been hit three times by Houthi missiles during its time on duty in the region but its crew have shot down nine drones since December.
Cmdr. Peter Evans, who is in command of HMS Diamond, said: “The situation in the region is fraught, and ships in the force are firing on a daily basis. We hand over the baton with our best wishes to the fantastic team in Richmond who we know will do a great job.”
“Having deployed at just five days’ notice, we’re used to quickly switching aim, and now our focus is on a short maintenance and ammunition resupply period before we get back to our mission in the Red Sea,” added Cmdr. Evans.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told his Cabinet the air strikes by the RAF and its U.S. allies had had a “significant effect in degrading Houthi capability.”
A Downing Street spokesman said, “The prime minister added that while we will always act in self-defence to protect freedom of navigation and the safety of British lives at sea, the UK is not seeking confrontation and our fundamental aim is to deescalate tensions in the region and deter further attacks.”
