SANAA: Early on Friday morning, the Huthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for yet another attack on a US ship. This came after the US started further strikes on rebel targets due to the rebels’ aggression towards vessels in and around the Red Sea.
The US military later claimed that the rebels’ missiles had missed their target, despite the Iran-backed rebels’ insistence that they had hit the merchant tanker in the Gulf of Aden.
The Huthis claimed that their “naval forces… carried out a targeting operation against an American ship” (recognized as the Chem Ranger) “with several appropriate naval missiles, resulting in direct hits” in a social media announcement.
It provided no more information or a time for the most recent attack on international maritime channels.
The Huthis “launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Chem Ranger, a Marshall Island-flagged, US-Owned, Greek-operated tanker” on Thursday night, according to the US military’s Central Command, which is in charge of the Middle East.
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“The missiles struck the ocean close to the ship, as the crew saw. The command said on social media platform X that there were no reported injuries or ship damages.
US and British troops have launched attacks in Yemen in response to the Huthi’s persistent aggression against vessels in and around the Red Sea. The US announced its most recent attack on Huthi targets on Thursday.
The Chem Ranger was a chemical tanker that was traveling from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Kuwait, according to the specialized website Marine Traffic.
A Marshallese chemical tanker traveling the same route reported an issue southeast of the Yemeni port of Aden, according to British maritime risk management company Ambrey. “An Indian warship responded to the event,” it continued.
In a similar advisory, the British maritime security service UKMTO stated that the “vessel and crew are safe, vessel proceeding to next port” in addition to reporting an incident in the same location without naming the vessel.
