Houthi missile kills three seafarers, injures more in attack on bulk carrier

United States Central Command (US Centcom) and the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the Houthi attack on the Barbados-flagged, 50,000-dwt True Confidence bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden had taken the lives of three mariners and left at least four others injured, three severely. 

"The missile struck the vessel, and the multinational crew reports three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship. The crew abandoned the ship and coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation," US Centcom said.

The British Embassy in Yemen posted on X (formerly Twitter) that the fatalities were the "sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping", and calling for an end to the attacks. 

Yemeni rebel forces spokesperson Yahya Saree took responsibility for the attack, calling the vessel an American ship, although it has no current ties to US entities. The spokesman tied the attack to the Israeli military operation in Palestinian territories and to "American-British aggression against our country". The spokesman also claimed the missiles were fired "after the ship’s crew rejected warning messages from the Yemeni naval forces".

"Operations in the Red and Arab Seas will not stop until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted," the Yemeni rebel armed forces said.

US President Joe Biden made headlines recently by putting a timeline on a ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Iranian-backed group Hamas that controlled Palestinian territories and initiated a violent attack on Israeli settlements on 7 October 2023. President Biden expressed his hope that the ceasefire agreement was imminent, but no such agreement has yet materialised, although talks are said to be continuing.

UKMTO first published an alert on 6 March, saying a ship’s master had reported being "hailed over 30 minutes by an entity declaring itself to be the Yemeni Navy," and demanding that the vessel alter its course. The incident took place in an area corresponding to the later attack on True Confidence, some 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden, Yemen. 

Vessels in the area of the missile strike reported explosions and a plume of smoke. 

Later on 6 March, US Centcom said it had conducted strikes against two unmanned aerial vehicles in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen "that presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region".

The missile attack on True Confidence involved the fifth anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthis over the course of 48 hours. In addition to the bulk carrier, a 2,169-TEU MSC container ship was hit. On 4 March, MSC Sky II took fire from two missiles, with one impacting the vessel, but no injuries were reported and the vessel continued on its course without requesting assistance. 

On 2 March, Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier Rubymar sank in the Red Sea after being struck by a Houthi missile two weeks prior on 18 February. According to US Centcom, the vessel had been slowly taking on water and drifting following the attack. 

US Centcom said the 18 February missile attack had caused a 29-km oil slick to form around the vessel. The ship was carrying about 21,000 tonnes of fertiliser, CENTCOM said on Saturday.

Rubymar was carrying a cargo of ammonium phosphate sulfate fertiliser that could cause damage to the marine ecosystem along with the oil slick and the navigational hazards posed by the sunken vessel. 
Yemen’s internationally recognised government’s foreign minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that "The sinking of the Rubymar is an environmental catastrophe that Yemen and the region have never experienced before."

Reuters reported that, in addition to the environmental impact of an oil spill, the fertiliser’s heavy load of nutrients could cause algal blooms that deplete oxygen, suffocating other marine life.

In response to the fatal attack on True Confidence, organisations from the UN’s International Maritime Organisation to the International Chamber of Shipping have expressed horror at the incident and renewed calls for a stop to the Houthi attacks on merchant vessels.