Global Courant
Yemen’s Houthi rebels say they fired rockets at the Zografia bulk carrier heading to Israel.
A Malta-flagged cargo ship has been hit by a missile in the Red Sea, a maritime risk management firm says, as tensions rise in the key waterway.
“A Greek-owned, Malta-flagged bulk carrier was reportedly attacked and struck by a missile while transiting north through the southern Red Sea,” Ambrey said in an alert on Tuesday.
The Houthis’ military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement that Yemeni rebels attacked the Zografia ship with naval missiles on Tuesday while it was en route to Israel, resulting in a “direct hit.”
The ship, which has visited Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, was headed to the Suez Canal, changed course and sailed to port after the incident, Ambrey said.
The empty ship sailed from Vietnam to Israel with 24 crew members on board, a source at Greece’s Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Island Policy said.
The unnamed source told news agency Agence France-Presse that the ship “suffered limited damage… but remains in navigable condition and continues its journey”, adding that there were no injuries.
The Iran-backed Houthis have attacked commercial ships they say are linked to Israel since November, disrupting maritime trade routes. The Houthis say the attacks are in response to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza.
The group has threatened to expand the reach of its attacks in the Red Sea to include American ships in response to American and British attacks on its locations in Yemen.
On Sunday, US forces shot down a Houthi cruise missile targeting a US destroyer, and on Monday a US cargo ship was struck by a missile in the Gulf of Oman.
Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra said tensions in the Red Sea “could spiral into something bigger, especially the potential for war before an Iranian-American confrontation in Yemen.”
“We are talking about an extremely delicate situation in the Red Sea,” Ahelbarra said.
Earlier, Qatar’s prime minister said liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments would be affected by tensions in the Red Sea and warned that attacks on Yemen risk worsening the crisis.
“LNG is… just like all other trade shipments. They will be affected by this (the exchange with the Houthis),” Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
“There are alternative routes. Those alternative routes are not more efficient; they are less efficient than the current route,” he added.
On Monday, Bloomberg news agency reported that at least five LNG ships used by Qatar had stopped en route to the Red Sea.
“(Military intervention) will not stop this, will not contain it. So on the contrary, I think it will cause a further escalation,” the Prime Minister added.
