A tanker with Russian oil comes under fire from Houthis in the Red Sea

The Houthis mistakenly attacked a tanker carrying Russian oil near Yemen. Militants fired a missile at a ship in the Red Sea.

This was reported by the British maritime security company Ambrey, Reuters reports.

It is noted that the UK Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) received a report of a missile fired 90 nautical miles southeast of the Yemeni port city of Aden.

“The captain reported that the missile fell into the water 400-500 meters away, followed by three small vessels,” the statement said.
It was the second tanker with Russian oil that was mistakenly fired upon by the Houthis.

The vessel was probably mistakenly attacked based on outdated publicly available information linking the tanker to the United Kingdom.

“It seemed like five months ago, but the vessel was still listed as UK-affiliated in the publicly available ship database,” the report says.

Who are the Hussites

The official name of the Houthi rebel organization is Ansar Allah. It is a militant association of Shiite Muslims, primarily of the Hussi tribe, hence the name Houthis.

The movement emerged in northern Yemen in the early 1990s. Its founder was Hussein al-Husi. Initially, the movement advocated the revival of one of the sects of Zaidism, a part of Shiite Islam that ruled Yemen in the first half of the twentieth century. The Houthis also accused the then President of Yemen, Ali Abdullah Saleh, of working for the interests of Saudi Arabia and the United States. In response, the authorities began raiding Houthis. Finally, in 2004, the founder of the movement was killed.

Since then, the central government and the Houthis have been at war. Initially, the conflict did not extend beyond the north of Yemen, but in 2014, the Houthis launched an offensive to the south and took control of several provinces and the capital, Sanaa. The Houthis were supported by Iran.

The internationally recognized government is currently in the city of Aden and calls the fight against the Houthis a war against Iranian proxies. In 2015, Saudi Arabia intervened in the war on his side, supported by the United States and Britain. Since then, the pro-government coalition has carried out more than 25,000 combat sorties, and the number of civilian casualties in Yemen alone has reached almost nine thousand. In response, the Houthis launched rocket attacks on Saudi Arabia. This became possible thanks to the large stockpile of missiles that the Yemeni government once purchased from the Soviet Union.

The coalition failed to achieve a victory, although for some time – in 2018-2019 – there was a relative truce in Yemen, which the UN tried to use to normalize the situation.

What is known about Houthi attacks in the Red Sea

In mid-November 2023, the Yemeni Houthis announced their intention to attack all ships in the Red Sea heading to Israel, regardless of who owns them.

In particular, in the Red Sea, on Friday, December 15, 2023, a shell fired from the territory of Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels hit the Al-Jasra cargo ship flying the Liberian flag. The ship caught fire. According to preliminary reports, no one was injured in the attack.

Earlier, it was also reported that Houthi rebels from the territory of Yemen under their control fired an anti-ship missile at a Norwegian commercial tanker in the Red Sea on the evening of December 11. The impact caused a fire and damage, but there were no casualties.

Why Houthis attack ships in the Red Sea

Iranian-affiliated Houthis have intervened in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has spread across the Middle East since October 7, attacking ships on vital shipping lanes and firing drones and rockets into Israel itself.

The Houthis said they would attack all ships heading to Israel, regardless of their nationality, and warned international shipping companies against working with Israeli ports.

The group that rules most of Yemen claims that its attacks are a demonstration of support for the Palestinians. The Houthis have vowed that the attacks will continue until Israel stops its offensive against Gaza.

What is known about US and British strikes on Houthis in Yemen

On the night of January 12, the United States and the United Kingdom, with the support of Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, and Bahrain, attacked the facilities of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen. U.S. President Joe Biden said that on his instructions, the U.S. and British military “successfully struck a number of targets in Yemen that were being used by the Houthis to threaten freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most important waterways.” A similar statement was also made by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who also officially confirmed the strikes on the Houthis.

US Air Force Commander Alex Hinkiewicz said that the US and British military struck more than 60 targets in 16 locations of Houthi militants in Yemen.

We came under attack:

• command and control centers;
• ammunition depots;
• launchers;
• production of weapons and munitions,
• air defense radar systems.