The chemical tanker hit by a Houthi missile on Monday had a charter in place to lift oil in the Israeli port of Ashdod.
Norwegian co-owner J Ludwig Mowinckels Rederi said in an updated statement on Tuesday that the 20,000-dwt Strinda (built 2006) had a contract to call at the Mediterranean terminal in January.
“There is no Israeli link to the ownership or the management of the vessel. She was, however, tentatively nominated by her charterers for a cargo out of Ashdod in January,” the company added.
“The contract was entered into three weeks ago, subject to no further escalations in the area.”
Since then, the Houthi militia had warned that all vessels are targets if they were calling at Israeli ports without also bringing in aid for Gaza.
The company had an option to cancel the contract if a deterioration took place.
“Upon the recommendation of our security advisors, it was decided to withhold this information until the vessel and her crew were in safe waters,” the company said.
TradeWinds reported earlier on Tuesday that the Port of Ashdod’s website has been blocked after an update appeared claiming the Strinda was heading there.
A screen grab taken by security company Ambrey Analytics shows the vessel on the Ashdod arrivals list.
The website was locking out internet traffic on Tuesday morning.
En route to Italy
The Strinda was hit by a missile about 15 nautical miles (28 km) west of Mokha in Yemen on Monday.
Mowinckels had earlier correctly said the ship was carrying a cargo of biofuel feedstock from South East Asia to Italy.
A fire broke out on board after the attack but it was extinguished by the Indian crew, who remained unharmed.
The tanker was underway northbound in the southern Red Sea at the time at 12 knots, with AIS transmissions still on.
Ambrey said that after the attack, the Strinda resumed speed and course after a period of drifting. But AIS transmissions stopped shortly after this resumption.
It is viewed as standard practice for targeted vessels to switch off AIS transmissions, as these could be used to track them.
Finansavisen reported the ship is owned by Mowinckels Chemical Tankers, a joint venture between Mowinckels and investor Harald Moraeus-Hanssen. Hansa Tankers handles commercial operations.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed on Tuesday that they had launched the missile because the ship had ignored their warnings to change course.
“The Yemeni Armed Forces … did not resort to targeting the Norwegian ship … until crew refused to respond to warning,” spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a tweet on Tuesday.
