Two attacks by Yemeni Houthis target ships in the Red Sea

Two attacks by Yemeni Houthi militias targeted ships in the Red Sea on Monday.

According to British authorities, three small Houthi vessels, two crewed and one unmanned, attacked the MT Bently I off the coast of Hodeidah in Yemen.
“The unmanned small boats reportedly collided with the ship twice and the two manned small boats fired at the ship,” the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center reported.

“The ship took self-protection measures and after 15 minutes the small boat broke off the attack.”

The captain later reported three separate waves of missile attacks exploding in the immediate vicinity of the ship.

Later on Monday, a separate incident occurred off the same coast in which the oil tanker MT Chios Lion was attacked by an unmanned Houthi aircraft. The aircraft “impacted on the port side causing damage and light smoke,” the UKMTO said.

Both ships and their entire crew are safe and sound, the UKMTO said in a warning to seafarers.

Late Monday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for the attacks on Bently I and Chios Lion.

Early Tuesday, the US Central Command confirmed the attacks and identified the names and flags of the ships.

Also on Monday, Central Command said CENTCOM forces had successfully destroyed five Iran-backed Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), three over the Red Sea and two over Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

The militias said on Thursday that they had attacked more than 166 ships since November.

The Houthis claim that their attacks are against ships with links to Israel, the US or Britain, and are part of the militias’ support for Hamas in its war against Israel. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the war.