Container ship MSC Sky II was continuing its voyage to Djibouti on Tuesday after being hit by a missile a day earlier near Yemen's port city of Aden, its operator MSC said. MSC Sky II was hit by a missile about 85 miles southeast of Aden and 170 miles east-southeast of the Bab al-Mandab Strait while it was sailing from Singapore to Djibouti, the Swiss-headquartered MSC said in a statement. "The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured. She is currently continuing her journey to Djibouti and will arrive today for further assessment," it said. The attack is among the latest strikes by the Iran-aligned Houthis, which have escalated since November. The Houthis have said they are targeting commercial ships in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Greece, host of the headquarters of the EU operation to shield ships from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, hopes to play a more central role in ensuring the security of the 27-nation bloc, the Greek defence minister said. "We have to be able to defend ourselves," Nikos Dendias told Reuters, adding that the European Union could achieve that in cooperation with NATO and other allies. The Greek frigate Hydra sailed last week for the Red Sea as the country assumed command of the EU mission, whose headquarters will be in the city of Larissa. Both Greece and the European Union are alarmed by the "sophisticated approach" of the Houthis, he said, with sea mines and submarine weapons used in attacks.
The Yemeni government announced that it will sue the owners of the British ship "Rubymar" that sank in the Red Sea on Saturday, about two weeks after a Houthi missile attack targeted it. Minister of Water and Environment Tawfiq Al-Sharjabi told Reuters that the relevant government agencies are contracting with an international lawyer to take the necessary measures. He pointed out that the danger of the ammonium phosphate material carried by the ship is that it can dissolve in water, making it difficult to remove in the future and having severe effects on marine life and the environment.
Ceasefire talks between Hamas and mediators broke up on Tuesday in Cairo with no breakthrough, with just days left to halt fighting in time for the start of Ramadan. Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said the group had presented its proposal for a ceasefire agreement to the mediators during two days of talks and was now waiting for a response from the Israelis, who stayed away from this round. Egyptian security sources said on Monday they were still in touch with the Israelis to allow the negotiations to continue without an Israeli delegation present.
