A US-owned cargo ship was hit by a missile off the coast of Yemen, a British security agency and maritime risk company said, a day after Houthi rebels fired a cruise missile at a US destroyer.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations security agency reported a “vessel hit from above by a missile” on its website, without providing further details.
According to Ambrey, a British maritime risk company, a fire broke out on board the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier, but it remains seaworthy and there were no injuries.
The company “assessed the attack to have targeted US interests in response to US military strikes on Houthi military positions in Yemen”, Ambrey said, adding that the vessel was “assessed to not be Israel-affiliated”.
There was no immediate comment from the Iran-backed Houthis, whose cruise missile targeting a US military ship was shot down yesterday.
The rebels have been targeting Israel-linked shipping in protest at the Israel-Hamas war.
US and British forces on Friday launched strikes on rebel targets across Yemen, heightening fears that Israel’s war with Palestinian Hamas militants could engulf the region.
Yesterday, the US military said its forces shot down a cruise missile fired at a US destroyer warship from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen.
US Central Command said an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon (DDG 58), which was operating in the Southern Red Sea.
“The missile was shot down in vicinity of the coast of Hodeida by US fighter aircraft,” according to CENTCOM.
“There were no injuries or damage reported.”
On Jan. 14 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon (DDG 58), which was operating in the Southern Red Sea. The missile was shot down in vicinity of the coast of Hudaydah by… pic.twitter.com/jftZHQhA2e
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 15, 2024
Meanwhile, at least six more oil tankers were steering clear of the southern Red Sea, as disruptions on the vital route for energy shipping increase in the wake of US-led strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.
Following the strikes, the US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) based in Bahrain warned all ships to avoid the Babal-Mandab Strait at the south end of the Red Sea for several days, according to tanker body INTERTANKO.
Prior to the US and British strikes on Yemen it had been mostly container ships which were avoiding the Red Sea, with oil tanker traffic largely unchanged in December.
But since the CMF’s warning, a growing number of oil tankers are avoiding the region, increasing the potential for disruptions to east-west oil supply via the Suez Canal.
Reuters counted a six tankers to have altered their course since the strikes, making a total of at least 15 vessels to do so since the start of the strikes last week, ship tracking data from LSEG and Kpler showed.
The tankers Torm Innovation, Proteus Harvonne, and Alfios I appeared to have turned away from the Suez Canal in favour of the longer route around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope for voyages to Europe and the US.
The Pacific Julia and STI Topaz are also heading straight for the Cape route.
The Octa Lune performed a U-turn in the northern part of the Red Sea on 12 January and has returned to the Mediterranean with a Taiwan-bound cargo of naphtha.
Tankers tracked by Reuters on Friday that had diverted or paused have either taken the longer Cape route or paused in the Gulf of Aden or northern Red Sea.
Taking the longer route around the Cape can add up to three weeks’ sailing time.
The list of diversions could grow as shipowners exercise policies of navigating away from the Red Sea.
Tanker owners including Torm, Hafnia and Stena Bulk said they would avoid Bab al-Mandab from Friday, while Euronav reaffirmed its temporary suspension of transits through the Red Sea.
