Bulk carrier hit by missile from Yemen, crew says two dead

Houthis continue targeting merchant vessels transiting Red Sea trade route, hit ships with missiles and drones

DUBAI:

A missile fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels hit a bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, with the crew reporting at least two dead and six wounded, a US official said.

The Iran-backed Houthis have been targeting merchant vessels transiting the vital Red Sea trade route for months and have previously hit ships with missiles and drones, but the two deaths on Wednesday appear to be the first fatalities directly resulting from an attack by the rebels.

"Today, the Houthis have killed innocent civilians," the defence official said, noting that the crew "reports at least two fatalities and six injured crew members and have abandoned the ship."

The missile caused significant damage to the Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned M/V True Confidence, according to the official, who said it was the fifth anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in two days.

Two of those -- including the latest -- hit merchant vessels and a third was shot down by an American destroyer, the official added.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency also reported the Wednesday attack, saying a Barbados-flagged ship had been "hit and has suffered damage", without elaborating on the strike.

Read also: Shadows over the Red Sea

"The vessel has been abandoned by the crew and is no longer under command," UKMTO added.

Maritime security firm Ambrey had earlier said a rescue operation was underway and that crew members were in lifeboats.

It cautioned other ships to steer clear of the US-owned ship, which it said matched the "targeting profile" of the Houthis.

The rebels started harassing ships in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea in November, a campaign they say is intended to signal solidarity with Palestinians in the devastating Gaza war.

They have vowed to strike Israeli, British and American ships as well as vessels heading to Israeli ports, disrupting traffic through the vital trade route off Yemen's shores.

Read: Yemen's Houthi rebels escalate Red Sea attacks, hit Trafigura fuel tanker

UKMTO said vessels in the vicinity of the US-owned bulk freighter had reported "a loud bang, and a large plume of smoke".

Ambrey said the vessel was contacted "by an entity declaring itself to be the 'Yemeni Navy'," a title adopted by the Houthi rebels.

The latest incident comes after an abandoned Belize-flagged, Lebanese-operated ship sank on Saturday with 21,000 metric tonnes of ammonium phosphate sulphate fertiliser on board.

The Rubymar had been taking on water since a Houthi missile strike on February 18 damaged its hull and forced the evacuation of its crew to Djibouti.

The flurry of Houthi strikes has caused several major shipping firms to suspend passage through the Red Sea, which usually carries around 12 percent of global trade.

The United States and Britain have since January launched repeated strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the ship attacks.