The Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen stepped up the tempo of their attacks on international shipping over the weekend, firing two missiles at a Liberian-flagged container ship on Friday night and then striking Saudi and Panamanian-flagged tankers on Monday.
In the Friday night attack, two missiles fired from Yemen detonated near the Liberian-flagged cargo ship MV Groton. The ship reported no injuries nor significant damage from the attack and continued to its next port of call.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree on Saturday claimed responsibility for the attack, which he said was “carried out by the naval, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and missile forces.”
“This is the second targeting of the ship since it was previously targeted on Aug. 3,” Saree added.
MV Groton was targeted by two Houthi missiles on August 3 in the first Red Sea terrorism incident after an Israeli counter-strike on the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah apparently forced a two-week pause in their assaults on shipping. The missiles fired by the Houthis at the Groton on August 3 also missed their target.
On Monday, a Saudi-flagged crude oil tanker named Amjad and the Panama-flagged tanker Blue Lagoon I were both attacked by the Houthis while sailing fairly close to each other in the Red Sea.
The international Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said three ballistic missiles struck the Blue Lagoon I as it sailed 70 miles northwest of Yemen’s port city of Saleef.
“All crew on board are safe. The vessel sustained minimal damage but does not require assistance,” JMIC reported.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations center (UKMTO) said two projectiles struck the Blue Lagoon I, and a third explosion was detected near the ship.
“Damage control is underway. There are no casualties onboard and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call,” UKMTO said.
UKMTO reported a second attack near Hodeidah. The Ambrey private security firm said this incident involved a UAV striking a ship, without causing any major damage or casualties.
The second target appears to have been the Saudi-flagged tanker Amjad. The ship is owned by a Saudi state enterprise called Bahri, which did not respond to media requests for comment on the attack, although a source told Reuters on Monday that the Saudi ship was “unlikely to have been directly targeted” by the Houthis.
The Saudis led a military intervention in Yemen against the Houthi insurgents from 2015 to 2023, and have since been trying to disengage themselves from the Yemeni civil war, so a Houthi attack on an oil tanker owned by a Saudi national shipping group would be a provocative action.
Both of the tanker attacks were also highly provocative because the Houthis created the conditions for a major environmental catastrophe by disabling and sabotaging a third oil tanker, the Greek-flagged Sounion, on August 21.
This photo released by the European Union’s Operation Aspides shows fires burning aboard the oil tanker Sounion in the Red Sea on Sunday, August 25, 2024. (European Union’s Operation Aspides via AP)
The Sounion is still burning and abandoned in the Red Sea, not far to the south of where the Amjad and Blue Lagoon I were attacked on Monday. Salvage efforts were delayed by Houthi threats to attack ships that sought to extinguish the fires aboard the Sounion or recover the vessel.
The Sounion was carrying about a million barrels of crude oil when the Houthis attacked it. The Blue Lagoon I has comparable maximum cargo capacity, while the Amjad is considerably larger.
