An American navy warship is assisting the 20,000dwt tanker Strinda following what the US authorities report was an anti-ship missile attack on the tanker which has caused a fire on the vessel.
The 2006-built tanker, operated by the Norwegian company Hansa Tankers was hit by the missile at around 9pm GMT, with the vessel reporting damage and a fire on board the vessel but no casualties at this time.
A US Centcom statement said the missile was launched from a Houthi controlled area of Yemen while passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb.” The USS Mason responded to the mayday call from the Strinda and was assisting the vessels crew to deal with the fire.
A Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the group targeted the ship because it was “loaded with oil” bound for Israel. According to Saree the crew had refused to respond to warnings from the Houthis who, he added, would continue blocking ships heading to Israeli ports until Israel allows the entry of food and medical aid into the Gaza Strip.
AIS data from VesselsValue shows the vessel currently heading northwest, towards Suez at 10kns with reports that armed guards are on board.
Vice Admiral (Retd) Duncan Potts Royal Navy Universal Defence and Security Solutions Director and Former Commander of Counter Piracy Operations off Somalia, and Maritime Security Commander within the Gulf, told Seatrade Maritime News that vessels are particularly vulnerable in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Persistent attacks on shipping in the southern Red Sea are a strategic threat to global shipping and supply chains. Particularly in the Straits of Bab el-Mandeb, flanked by Yemen, Djibouti and Eritrea, shipping lanes and traffic density are predictable, which eases targeting and attack options.”
At their narrowest the straits are only 10-15 miles wide, which acts as a classic shipping chokepoint, explained Potts.
“Roughly $1 trillion worth of trade in approximately 23,000 ships passes through the Straits each year, which acts as the prime logistics umbilical between the Far East, Gulf and Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean and Europe. Consequently, these attacks have the potential to become far more of a global strategic economic threat than simply a regional geopolitical one.”
Moreover, Potts said that with some US trade now diverted from the Panama Canal heading to the US east coast via the Suez Canal the risks to trade are even greater.
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