Yemen's Houthis Escalate Naval Attacks: Sinking Ships and Killing Sailors

The Ansar Allah (Houthi) group claimed responsibility for an attack on a commercial vessel off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday that three people, the first fatalities in the Houthi attacks since the group began targeting ships in November last year.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sarea, said in a statement late yesterday, "The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against the American ship (TRUE CONFIDENCE) in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of appropriate naval missiles. The hit was accurate, leading to a fire breaking out on it."

While the Houthi group says the ship belongs to the United States, the vessel is sailing under the flag of Barbados and is operated by a Greek company.

A spokesman for the ship's managers, Pat Adamson, said that the vessel is owned by True Confidence Shipping and operated by a Greek company called Third January Maritime. He added that the ship has no connection with any American entity.

According to Adamson, the ship crew included four Vietnamese, one Indian, 15 Filipinos, two Sri Lankans, and one Nepalese.

The U.S. Central Command said in a statement late yesterday that an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) was launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward M/V True Confidence, a Liberian-owned bulk carrier. The statement added, "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 …"

Over the last two days, the Houthi group has launched five anti-ship ballistic missiles. Two of the missiles hit two ships, M/V MSC Sky II and M/V True Confidence.

On January 18, Houthi missiles hit a UK-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden. The crew managed to flee the ship, which sank on Saturday, raising concerns about an "environmental disaster" in the Red Sea.

Houthis have been launching attacks on ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in "Solidarity" with Palestinians in Gaza, where over 30000 people have been killed by Israel.

Meanwhile, the U.S. forces launched strikes on Houthi sites on Wednesday, continuing its aerial campaign, which began on January 12 in an attempt to degrade the Houthi military capabilities.

The Houthi group confirmed on Wednesday that the U.S. and U.K. conducted two airstrikes on Al Hudaydah International Airport. A Houthi official source was quoted saying, "Two raids by American and British aggression aircraft targeted Al-Hudaydah International Airport."

The strikes happened hours after three sailors were killed and others went missing or injured due to a Houthi missile on a Barbados-flagged True Confidence cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.

Despite weeks of US-UK airstrikes on Houthi sites in Yemen, the shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Gulf remain unsafe for ships.

Informed sources told Sheba Intelligence yesterday that the U.S. and the U.K. have developed a long-term plan to train and qualify naval forces affiliated with Yemen's UN-recognized government to assist it in controlling its territorial waters.

According to the sources, the Yemeni naval forces that will be trained will be tasked with securing the Yemeni coasts and international trade routes in the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Red Sea.