Houthi Missile attack on Cargo Ship killed three people in Gulf of Aden

• The attack is the first fatalitie from the group’s attacks on merchant vessels.
• US forces targeted two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Yemen, which posed an imminent threat to US Navy ships.
• The attack occurred around 12:30 on Wednesday while the bulk carrier was in the Gulf of Aden.

Houthi missile strikes on a cargo ship off southern Yemen have resulted in the deaths of three crew members, according to its owners and the US – marking the first fatalities from the group’s attacks on merchant vessels. After Wednesday’s attack, the crew abandoned the Barbados-flagged True Confidence due to the significant damage it sustained.

The US military’s Central Command (Centcom) condemned the Houthis’ “reckless attacks”, stating that they had “disrupted global trade and taken the lives of international seafarers”.

Hours after the attack, US forces conducted strikes on two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in Yemen, which Centcom said posed an imminent threat to US Navy ships in the region. Houthi-run Al Masirah TV reported that two strikes targeted the airport in the Red Sea city of Hudaydah.

According to its owners, the attack on True Confidence occurred around 12:30 (09:30 GMT) on Wednesday while the bulk carrier was in the Gulf of Aden, approximately 50 nautical miles (93km) southwest of the city of Aden.

A Centcom statement reported that an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen hit the 183m-long bulk carrier. The crew of 20, comprising one Indian, four Vietnamese, and 15 Filipino nationals, with three armed guards – two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal – manned the vessel. The statement also included an aerial photograph showing significant damage to the bridge and accommodation at the stern of the stricken vessel, on the port side.

Before the attack, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported that True Confidence had received contact over VHF radio from a group identifying itself as the “Yemeni Navy” and instructed to change course. Nearby vessels then observed a loud bang and a large plume of smoke. Following the incident, the Indian Navy’s spokesperson stated that INS Kolkata, a destroyer deployed in the region as part of a US-led naval task force, arrived at the scene on Wednesday afternoon and rescued 21 crew members using a helicopter and boats.

The spokesperson added that Indian sailors provided critical medical aid to the injured and evacuated them to Djibouti on Wednesday evening. A video posted online by the navy showed a fire on board True Confidence and several of its crew members being winched onto helicopters from life rafts. On Thursday morning, a spokesperson for True Confidence’s owner and managers issued a statement confirming that one Vietnamese and two Filipino crew members were killed. It also mentioned that another two Filipino crew members had suffered serious injuries and were being treated at a hospital in Djibouti.

“Owners and managers offer their heartfelt sympathy and condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones in this tragic attack and wish for a speedy and full recovery of those who are in hospital.”

The statement said True Confidence was currently “drifting well away from land” and that salvage arrangements were being made.

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