Houthi missile strikes break Red Sea calm period

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) received reports of attacks on a merchant vessel in the Gulf of Aden on August 3, with one missile finding its target around 125 nm east of the port city Aden in Yemen.

The Master’s report said the vessel had been hit by an unknown explosive, which the company security officer later reported as a missile. No fire, water ingress or oil leaks were reported.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Sare’e claimed in a social media post that the group’s naval and missile forces had targeted 2002-built, Liberian-flagged, 2,490 teu container ship Groton with multiple ballistic missiles. The ship operates on CMA CGM’s India Gulf Red Sea Express service BIGEX2 and was targeted on its routine journey between Jebel Ali and Djibouti.

The Joint Maritime Information Centre (JMIC) update on the incident confirmed the ship had been targeted in two attacks, one 170 nm east of Aden where a missile hit the water around 100 meters off the vessel, and the successful attack that struck Groton above the waterline 125 nm east of the city. 

“JMIC assesses that Groton was targeted due to other vessels within its company structure
making recent port calls in Israel,” it said. Sare’e also said the ship was targeted for its company violating the Houthi ban on ships calling “ports of occupied Palestine ''.

Related:Red Sea crisis reaches peak impact on box ships

The warnings issued by UKMTO on 3 August were the first since 20 July, when a vessel reported multiple attacks in the Bab al Mandab Strait from an uncrewed aerial system (UAS), uncrewed surface vessel (USV) and a missile. The crew and vessel were reported safe, with minor damage caused by the UAS strike.

While there has been a recent break in attacks on shipping in the region, the US military continued to target Houthi assets, destroying a Houthi missile and launcher, three Houthi USVs and one Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) in the past week.