US Central Command (US CentCom) said Houthi forces fired five missiles at an Aframax tanker with a Chinese-registered owner
The US CentCom report said the attack took place on 23 March, and claimed Iran-supplied Houthi forces initially launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles "into the Red Sea in the vicinity of" the 115,000-dwt, Aframax tanker Huang Pu.
"At 4:25 pm (Sanaa time), a fifth ballistic missile was detected as fired toward Huang Pu. The ship issued a distress call but did not request assistance. Huang Pu suffered minimal damage, and a fire on board was extinguished within 30 minutes. No casualties were reported, and the vessel resumed its course," the US military command said.
Calling Huang Pu a "Panama-flagged, Chinese-owned, Chinese-operated oil tanker," US CentCom said "the Houthis attacked the [vessel] despite previously stating they would not attack Chinese vessels".
In its record for the Aframax tanker, online vessel valuation service VesselsValue lists as unknown Huang Pu’s operator and flag state but lists a Hong Kong company, Ambra, Ltd, as the registered owner.
A widely-republished Bloomberg report citing multiple anonymous sources said last week that Russian and Chinese officials had made a deal with Houthi forces for the security of Russian and Chinese vessels transiting the region. Bloomberg said the parties had held talks in Oman that resulted in a "security deal" in which the Houthis gave the two countries a guarantee that their vessels would not be targeted.
As part of its update on the situation in the Red Sea on 23 March, US CentCom said US forces including USS Carney had engaged six Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles over the southern Red Sea. Five reportedly crashed into the Red Sea, and one flew inland into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
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