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Yemen’s Houthis’ campaign of attacks against commercial shipping claimed its first casualties on Wednesday, when an attack on a Barbados-flagged bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden left three seafarers dead and four injured.
The death toll from True Confidence, sold days ago by the American private equity group Oaktree Capital, emerged in a statement from the US Army Central Command (Centcom). The Houthi rebel group claimed responsibility for the attack a few hours earlier.
Although the Houthis have attacked more than 40 ships since the start of their campaign in November, there had previously been no serious injuries among sailors. The most serious previous assault, which occurred on February 19, led to the sinking of the bulk carrier Rubymar. All crew abandoned ship safely.
Centcom he wrote on the social media platform
“The missile hit the vessel and the multinational crew reports three deaths, at least four injuries, including three in critical condition, and significant damage to the vessel,” the statement read.
The official spokesman of the Houthis, Yahya Sare’e, claimed responsibility for the attack, calling the True Confidence an “American ship”.
Sare’e renewed calls for the group, which has Iranian backing, to take action to support Palestinians in Gaza.
The United States condemned the attack on True Confidence and urged other countries to do the same and join Washington in helping to end the continued attacks.
“These reckless attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis not only disrupted global trade, but also took the lives of international seafarers simply doing their jobs,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. “[We] We condemn the Houthis for these attacks and will call on governments around the world to do the same and join us in putting an end to these terrible attacks.”
According to a statement from the ship’s managers, the ship’s crew consisted of 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese and one Indian. There were also three security guards: two Sri Lankans and one Nepalese.
The vessel is owned by True Confidence SA, registered in Liberia and operated by Third January Maritime, based in the Greek port of Piraeus. Until a few days ago it was owned by Oaktree, which is still listed in many maritime databases as the vessel’s owner.
A photo published by Centcom of the ship showed that the missile had inflicted heavy damage on the accommodation block that housed the crew cabins.
The vessel, which was carrying a cargo of steel products and trucks from the Chinese port of Lianyungang to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Aqaba in Jordan, was flying the flag of Barbados.
The Houthis have launched attacks against ships they describe as Israeli, British or American. Many of the attacks were carried out based on weak links or outdated or incorrect information on maritime websites.
The statement on behalf of Third January said the vessel “was adrift, with a fire continuing on board.”
It seems likely that the attack was the result of the vessel’s previous ownership by Oaktree, one of the US private equity firms most active in investing in the maritime sector. A person familiar with the matter said the vessel had only changed hands to new owners on February 27.
The managers’ statement said “there is no current connection to any US entity.”
Martin Kelly, senior Middle East analyst at EOS Risk Group, a maritime security firm, said the Houthis used “a range of open sources” to determine whether a vessel was linked to countries or entities they believed were legitimate targets.
“Rumors on open source platforms such as Marine Traffic, which may not have been updated with recent ownership details, are often used, leading to attacks on unrelated vessels,” Kelly said. “This may have been the case with True Confidence.”
The Houthis began a campaign of attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in November, following the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.
Centcom said the missile that hit True Confidence was the fifth launched by the Houthis in the past two days. On Monday, one hit the container ship MSC Sky II, while the US warship USS Carney downed another. It is not known what happened to the other two weapons.
“These reckless attacks by the Houthis have disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers,” Centcom said.
Arsenio Dominguez, secretary general of the International Maritime Organization, the maritime arm of the United Nations, called the “terrible news” of the victims “deeply sad.”
“I express my deepest condolences and those of the entire IMO family to the families of those who lost their lives, and our thoughts are with those who were injured,” he said in a statement. “Innocent seafarers should never become collateral victims.”
Additional reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Washington