(Dubai) A chemical tanker was hit off the coast of India on Saturday by an “attack drone fired from Iran”, and two oil tankers and a US destroyer sailing in the Red Sea were also targeted by drones launched by Houthi rebels in Yemen, according to the US military.
The attack on the chemical tanker occurred at 10 a.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Time) on Saturday. It caused a fire on board, which was extinguished, and caused no injuries, the US Department of Defense said. The ship, the MV Chem Pluto, sails under the flag of Liberia, belongs to a Japanese company and is operated by a Dutch company, he said.
According to the maritime security firm Ambrey, the ship “is affiliated with Israel” and sails between Saudi Arabia and India, with the Wall Street Journal claiming that the Dutch company operating the MV Chem Pluto “is linked to the tycoon Israeli shipping company Idan Ofer.
The attack occurred in the Arabian Sea, 200 nautical miles southwest of the Indian port of Veraval in Gujarat state, Ambrey and Britain’s maritime security agency UKMTO said.
The Indian Navy said it had dispatched an aircraft and a warship to assist the MV Chem Pluto.
While responsibility for this strike was not immediately established, it follows a series of drone and missile attacks carried out in recent weeks in the Red Sea by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, supported by Iran. , against the backdrop of war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
In November, an Israeli cargo ship was also damaged in the Indian Ocean by a drone attack, for which Washington also blamed Iran.
Two tankers attacked
On Saturday, an Indian-flagged Gabonese oil tanker, the MV Saibaba, launched a distress call after being hit in the Red Sea by a drone fired from areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen, the US Central Command (Centcom) announced in specifying that there were no injuries.
Another tanker, the MV Blaamanen, flying the Norwegian flag, was also targeted by a Houthi drone, which narrowly missed it, added Centcom, according to which it was the 14e and the 15e attack on commercial ships by Yemeni rebels in the Red Sea since October 17.
And a US destroyer patrolling the Red Sea, the USS Laboon, shot down four more Houthi attack drones targeting it on Saturday, according to Centcom.
These attacks targeting commercial ships since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7 have prompted major shipping companies to redirect their ships towards the southern tip of Africa, despite higher fuel costs for much-traveled voyages. longer.
The Houthis, who control entire swaths of Yemeni territory including the capital Sanaa, repeat that they will continue their attacks as long as food and medicine do not return in sufficient quantities to the Gaza Strip, which is besieged and bombarded by Israel.
The Houthis are “part of the axis of resistance” against Israel, which includes other groups supported by Iran, such as Hamas and Lebanese Hezbollah.
“Closure of the Mediterranean”
On Saturday, an official with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Reza Naqdi, warned that other shipping lanes will become impassable if the war between Israel and Hamas continues.
“With the continuation of crimes, America and its allies must expect the emergence of new powers of resistance and the closure of other waterways,” said the official quoted by the Iranian news agency Tasnim.
“They will soon have to expect the Mediterranean Sea, Gibraltar and other waterways to be closed against them,” he warned.
The Red Sea is a “highway” connecting the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, and therefore Europe to Asia. Around 20,000 ships pass through the Suez Canal each year, representing around 40% of global trade.
The White House accused Iran of being “heavily involved in planning” attacks by the Houthi rebels by providing them with “sophisticated military equipment” and “intelligence assistance,” without which the Yemeni rebels “would have difficulty spotting and hitting” boats.
Iran admits its political support for the Houthis, at war since 2014 against the Yemeni government recognized by the international community. But Tehran denies providing military equipment to the rebels.
The United States announced on December 18 the formation of a coalition to defend maritime traffic in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, to which around twenty countries have joined.