Yemeni Houthi rebels targeted two US ships

The attacks come as the European Union announced its own mission to protect shipping in the region.

Maritime transport in the strategic waters of the Red Sea once again targeted. Houthi rebels, who control large areas of Yemen and enjoy support from Iran, have targeted “two American ships” in the Gulf of Aden, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a statement on Monday, February 19. Stating that the attack was carried out using “several missiles”he identified the targeted vessels as “Sea Champion” and “Navis Fortuna”.

Also in a statement, the Yemeni rebel spokesperson said they also targeted “a British ship in the Gulf of Aden, the ‘Rubymar’, with naval missiles”. Earlier in the day, maritime security company Ambrey reported the attack on a “bulk carrier flying the Belizean flag, registered in the United Kingdom and operated by Lebanon”, Who was heading north from the United Arab Emirates and had its final destination in the Bulgarian city of Varna.

Since the beginning of December, attacks by Yemeni rebels targeting ships of countries they accuse of being linked to Israel, have multiplied, dealing a severe blow to trade in the area. The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel is waging a bloody war against Hamas in retaliation for the unprecedented October 7 attack on Israeli soil.

EU announces mission to protect Red Sea traffic

Dince January, the United States and the United Kingdom have carried out repeated strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen without succeeding in putting an end to their attacks, while the European Union announced on Monday the launch of a mission to protection of maritime traffic in the Red Sea.

Faced with the continuation of these attacks and their consequences on maritime transport and in particular on hydrocarbon deliveriesQatar’s Energy Minister, Saad al-Kaabi, said on Monday that the “root of the problem” in the Red Sea was “Israeli invasion of Gaza”calling for a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.

According to the IMF, maritime container transport through the Red Sea fell by almost 30% year-on-year. Before the conflict, between 12 and 15% of global traffic passed through this axis, according to the EU. From now on, a large part of the maritime traffic between South Asia and Europe avoids the Suez Canal and goes around Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, which extends the journey by around two weeks. Revenues from the Suez Canal, one of Egypt’s main foreign exchange earners, have “lowered by 40 to 50%” since the start of the year, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi announced on Monday.