Merchant ships carrying Russian goods suffered the most from attacks by Yemeni Houthis, despite guarantees of safe passage. This was reported on Thursday, July 25, by Bloomberg, UNN reports.
Details
At the beginning of the year, the rebels said they would not attack Russian and Chinese vessels, but of the 83 ships that have been attacked in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November last year, 19% have left Russian ports. All the ships attacked by the Houthis were oil tankers and container ships. In addition to the ships that left Russian ports, the rebels attacked ships that left Singapore's harbors, accounting for 11% of such incidents.
The agency clarifies that the Houthis did not fire at ships flying the Russian flag, but attacked vessels with Russian citizens on board. Before the attack, many ships transmitted satellite signals saying “crew from Russia” and “Russians on board”.
In particular, last week the rebels attacked two ships carrying Russian cargo. The first to be attacked was the Israeli-owned Bentley I, flying the Panamanian flag, which was transporting oil from Russia to China. The Houthis sent one drone boat with explosives and two small booby-trapped boats to the vessel, and then fired a ballistic missile at it. However, they failed to damage the tanker.
After that, the rebels fired at and damaged the oil tanker Chios Lion, registered in the Marshall Islands and flying the Liberian flag, with a remote-controlled boat. The tanker was transporting 100,000 tons of crude oil from the port of Tuapse in the Krasnodar Territory.
In June, Yemeni rebels sank the Greek merchant ship Tutor in the Red Sea, which was transporting Russian coal from the port of Ust-Luga to the Jordan. The bulk carrier came under fire 120 kilometers southwest of the city of Hodeidah. After the attack, the crew was evacuated to the USS Philippine Sea, and the bulk carrier was left adrift.
As a reminder, the Houthis began attacking merchant ships passing the country's coast in November 2023 in response to Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip. At the end of May, Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said that they had already fired on about 130 ships and promised to increase the frequency of attacks.