Houthis claim fresh attacks on British and US ships in Red Sea

 

The Houthis say they have successfully targeted a British and a US ship in the Red Sea, casting doubt on the effectiveness of three waves of US-UK strikes on missile sites belonging to the group in Yemen.

Neither of the two ships were badly damaged but the incident will underscore the need for commercial ships either to pay higher insurance premiums or take longer, more expensive routes to avoid the threat of Houthi attacks.

The US military undertook a daylight raid on the port of Hodeidah on Monday without UK support. 

A Houthi spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said in a statement on Tuesday: “We carried out two military operations, the first targeted an American ship (Star Nasia), and the other targeted a British ship (Morning Tide).”

The Greek-owned Star Nasia, managed by Star Bulk Carrier, was damaged by an explosion at 11.15 GMT, a Greek shipping ministry official said, adding that its crew were not injured. It is unclear whether the explosion was caused by a sea mine or a rocket, the official added. 

The security company Ambrey reported earlier on Tuesday that a British ship flying the Barbados flag “suffered minor damage to its port” 57 nautical miles from the coast of Hodeidah, without any casualties. The ship continued on its way.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said just after midnight GMT on Tuesday that it had received a report of a projectile fired at the port side of a ship west of Hodeidah and that a small craft was seen nearby.

The projectile passed over the deck and caused slight damage to the bridge windows, but the vessel and crew were safe and proceeded on the planned passage, it added.

The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, said on Tuesday that the group “will further escalate” if the Israeli attack on Gaza does not stop.

On Monday the UK defence secretary, Grant Shapps, told MPs there had been a change in the cadence of Houthi strikes. “The clock is running down for the Houthis, in as much as their ability is being degraded,” Shapps said. “They do not have the eyes and ears from the radar stations; they are more reliant still on Iran.”  

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, is on his fifth trip to the Middle East since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel. He travelled to Egypt after meeting Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, in Riyadh to discuss how to achieve “an enduring end to the crisis in Gaza”.

Blinken is also due to travel to Qatar, Israel and the West Bank. His efforts will largely turn on the response Hamas finally gives to a framework for a ceasefire deal, which would involve the exchange of more than 100 Israeli hostages held in Gaza in return for a lengthy pause in fighting and the release of Palestinians detained in Israeli jails. Hamas has said it wants a permanent ceasefire and the removal of all Israeli troops from Gaza, something the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is not prepared to offer.

The price for the US not securing a lengthy ceasefire is rising as it finds itself embroiled in fighting directly against Iranian-backed forces in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. It is not clear how US strategic interests in any of these three countries are being advanced by the military confrontation. In Iraq, political forces calling for US bases to be closed down have grown stronger as a result of US strikes on Iranian-backed militia inside the country. In Syria, the US-backed Kurdish forces that have formed the linchpin of the US drive against Islamic State suffered a serious blow on Monday when they lost six fighters to a drone strike.  

In Yemen, the UN-recognised government in Aden has sacked its prime minister, replacing him with the hardline anti-Houthi foreign minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak. Hugely experienced, Mubarak is sceptical of plans by Saudi Arabia to strike a peace deal with the Houthis to formally bring Yemen’s civil war to a close. Last Thursday he said Iran’s al-Quds force operatives had been deployed to Yemen’s coastline.

The reshuffle will reflect concerns in the US about the quality of the anti-Houthi alliance in the country. The prime minister is overseen by a disparate eight-strong presidential leadership council, some of whom are backed by Saudi Arabia and others by the United Arab Emirates. 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/feb/06/houthis-claim-fresh-attacks-british-us-ships-red-sea

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