Yemen’s Houthi rebels target oil tanker in the Red Sea. US says rebels also hit Saudi-flagged tanker

An attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted a Panama-flagged oil tanker in the Red Sea on Monday, authorities said, as a nearby Saudi-flagged tanker ship also allegedly came under fire from the group.

The attacks are believed to be the latest in the Iranian-backed rebels’ campaign that has disrupted the USD 1 trillion in goods that pass through the Red Sea each year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and has halted some aid shipments to conflict-ravaged Sudan and Yemen.

The new attacks on oil tankers also come amid efforts to salvage the still-burning Sounion oil tanker earlier hit by the Houthis, seeking to head off the potential ecological disaster posed by its cargo of 1 million barrels of crude oil.

In Monday’s first assault, two ballistic missiles hit the oil tanker Blue Lagoon I and a third exploded near the ship, the multination Joint Maritime Information Centre overseen by the US Navy said.

“All crew on board are safe (no injury reported),” the centre said. “The vessel sustained minimal damage but does not require assistance.”

Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the attack on the Blue Lagoon I late Monday night.

The Blue Lagoon I is travelling south through the Red Sea to an unlisted destination. The vessel was coming from Russia’s port of Ust-Luga on the Baltic Sea and had been broadcasting that it had Russian-origin cargo on board.

In recent months, the Blue Lagoon I travelled to India, which gets more than 40 per cent of its oil imports from Russia despite Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine and the international sanctions it faces over it.

The Greek-based firm operating the ship could not be reached. The Joint Maritime Information Centre said it assessed that the ship “was targeted due to other vessels within its company structure making recent port calls in Israel”. Saree also cited that as the reason the Houthis attacked the vessel.

Later on Monday morning, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre reported a second attack off the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeida.

The private security firm Ambrey said an aerial drone hit a merchant ship, though no damage or injuries were reported. The attack happened only a few kilometers (miles) from where the Blue Lagoon I attack occurred, Ambrey said.

The US military’s Central Command, which oversees American operations in the Mideast, identified the second vessel as the Saudi-flagged oil tanker Amjad and blamed the attack on the Houthis. The Amjad carried 2 million barrels of oil, it said.