Houthis remain on the offensive

The Houthis remain on the offensive, taking aim at US naval ships and merchant vessels far away from their Yemeni shoreline.

US forces destroyed yesterday one Houthi-launched airborne unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) on a flight path towards the destroyers USS Philippine Sea and the USS Laboon. No injuries or damages were reported.

A Houthi military spokesman said that they also attacked the Cyclades, a Malta-flagged, Greece-owned bulk carrier in the Red Sea on Tuesday and the MSC Orion containership in the Indian Ocean on Monday.

According to US Central Command, they fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) and three UAVs from Yemen towards the Cyclades. Initial reports indicated there were no injuries and that the vessel continued on its way.

Although not confirmed by US or other military authorities, the MSC Orion, according to the Houthis, was targeted by a drone attack Monday in the Indian Ocean as part of what they claim was an ongoing campaign against international shipping in solidarity with Gaza.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported another attack on Monday but without many details or the name of the ship.

The UKMTO said that a vessel reported an explosion in its proximity, some 100 km northwest of Yemen’s Mokha. It sustained damage but the ship and crew were safe and proceeded to the next port of call. Ambrey, a British maritime security firm, said in an advisory note that the vessel was targeted due to its listed operator’s ongoing trade with Israel.

Following these most recent attacks, the total number of merchant ships targeted over the past six months is moving towards the 90-mark.

Lars Jensen, the CEO of container shipping consultancy Vespucci Maritime, has been providing daily updates via LinkedIn on the unfolding Red Sea shipping crisis with the Houthis of Yemen.

“The attacks in recent days appear to be quite an escalation compared to the previous two-week hiatus. Whether this was due to some internal deliberate strategy on the part of the Houthis, or whether it reflects that they had temporarily run out of missiles but have now been resupplied is unknown,” he commented over the weekend.