Yemen's Houthi rebels fired on Sunday several missiles and drones against two US Navy destroyers and three US supply ships transiting the Gulf of Aden.
The renewed, massive Houthi attack shows that the group sees no reason to halt its year-long campaign against Western shipping in the Red Sea, even after a recent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The action also provides further proof that the Yemeni rebels' potential to carry out attacks against shipping in the area remains undiminished, despite repeated US claims to be degrading it with air strikes.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree named the three supply ships as the 2,500-teu boxship Maersk Saratoga (built 2004), the 49,700-dwt MR2 tanker Stena Impeccable (built 2017) and the 50,600-dwt supramax bulker Liberty Grace (built 2001).
In a statement early on Monday, the US military confirmed a multiple Houthi strike against three “US-owned, operated, flagged merchant vessels” it did not name, adding that none of them suffered any damage.
According to US Central Command, destroyers USS Stockdale and USS O'Kane “successfully engaged and defeated” three anti-ship ballistic missiles, three air drones and one anti-ship cruise missile.
Saree, by contrast, had said late on Sunday that the Houthis fired 16 “ballistic and winged missiles and a drone” in “accurate and direct” strikes.
It is not immediately clear if the US convoy actually managed to complete the voyage or aborted it on account of the attack.
In another, similar incident about two months ago, the Yemeni group launched 23 missiles and drones against three US warships in the Red Sea.
The Pentagon eventually confirmed that a “complex” Houthi attack took place against its ships on 27 September, adding that none of them came to harm.
Working for the Department of Defense
All three vessels named by Saree have clear links to the US and therefore match the vessel profile usually targeted by the Houthis.
All are flying the US flag and are employed by US entities.
This is the second time since March that the Houthis claim to have attacked the Maersk Saratoga, which is listed with US-registered Maersk Line. Late on Sunday, vessel trackers were showing the Maersk Saratoga at anchor in Djibouti, in the Gulf of Aden.
No signal, by contrast, is available for the Stena Impeccable — a ship whose last visible sign showed it in the Indian Ocean last month.
TradeWinds reported last year that the Stena Impeccable is among three vessels in a joint venture between Sweden’s Stena Bulk and US operator Crowley. The trio is employed by the US Maritime Administration (MarAd) under its tanker security programme, in which vessels transport fuel supplies in times of need for the Department of Defense.
The Stena Impeccable was to be manned with American crews when it entered the programme.
The third ship the Houthis claimed to have attacked on Sunday, the Liberty Grace, is listed with US-based Liberty Maritime Corp. The ship’s last signal was in the Arabian Gulf 10 days ago.
Managers at Maersk, Crowley and Liberty did not immediately respond to messages by e-mail or phone.
The Houthi statement shows that the Yemeni group sees no reason to stop its campaign against western shipping after the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces will continue to carry out their military operations at an escalating pace in the declared maritime operations zone against the Israeli and American enemy and it will not stop except by stopping the aggression and lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip,” Saree said on Sunday.
