The UK maritime agency UKMTO has said that oil products tanker Sounion was attacked on Wednesday. The attack was done by two small boats that fired three projectiles in the Red Sea, off Yemen. The vessel was damaged but no injuries took place.
The ship’s operator, Delta Tankers, confirmed that the ship was adrift and had sustained minor damage. The crew were assessing the situation and the ship would proceed on its journey, it said in a statement. There were no reports of injuries among the foreign crew – two Russians and the rest Filipinos.
Sounion is the third Delta Tanker-operated ship targeted by the Iran-aligned Houthi militants. Earlier this month , they attacked the Liberia-flagged Delta Atlantica and Delta Blue tanker ships in separate attacks.
Also on Wednesday, the captain of a different cargo ship sailing off the coast of Aden reported a total of five explosions in nearby waters, UKMTO said. They later identified the vessel as the SW North Wind I.
The U.S.-based owner and manager of the Panama-flagged SW North Wind I did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
REROUTING SUPPLY
The Houthis’ months-long campaign against commercial shipping has continued. This goes on despite retaliatory strikes by Britain and the United States, which have shot down drones and bombed attack sites in Yemen.
These attacks have forced ship owners to reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal. They are forced to take the longer route around the southern tip of Africa. This has cascaded costs and delays through global supply chains.
The Houthis have said the attacks will not stop until Israel stops its “aggression” in Gaza.
CONFLICT CONTINUES
On July 20, Israel said its warplanes struck Houthi military targets near Hodeidah. It took place a day after a Houthi drone hit Israel’s economic hub Tel Aviv, killing one person.
The retaliatory Israeli airstrikes on Hodeidah hit more than two dozen oil storage tanks and two shipping cranes in the port. IT also hit a power plant in the province’s Salif district.
The attacks on shipping have drawn U.S. and British retaliatory strikes on Houthi territories. This has disrupted global trade as ship owners reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal, to sail the longer route around the southern tip of Africa.
(With inputs from Reuters)
