Yemen’s Houthis said on Monday that their forces hit a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea with a ballistic missile, as the Iran-backed group continues to pursue a maritime blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb strait, another crucial artery for global shipping.
“The strike was accurate and direct, resulting in a fire breaking out aboard the vessel and causing a number of other ships that were present in the target area to flee,” the Houthis said in a statement.
“This targeting comes as part of the implementation of the Armed Forces’ decision to ban maritime navigation by the Saudi enemy.”
The Houthi claim came hours after a British maritime agency said a tanker struck by an “unknown projectile” caught fire off Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.
“The Company Security Officer reported a tanker has been struck by (an) unknown projectile causing a fire to the vessel on the main deck,” said the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations.
“All crew are safe and accounted for and no environmental impact has been reported,” it added.
The incident took place 63 nautical miles west of the Saudi city of Yanbu, the agency reported. Yanbu lies hundreds of kilometres north of Yemen.
British maritime security firm Vanguard Tech also said a Saudi-flagged vessel had been hit by a missile and caught fire.
The Bab al-Mandeb strait, which connects the southern Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, carries roughly 12% of global maritime trade.
The Houthis disrupted it severely with their campaign against Israel-linked shipping during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, claiming it was in a show of support for Palestinians.
The Bab el-Mandeb campaign comes at a time when the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf’s other critical chokepoint, remains under blockade after the US-Iran war continued following the collapse of the interim deal between the two sides.
The Houthis have reportedly held talks with Tehran on instituting a toll for cargo ships passing through the strait akin to the one Iran is eyeing for Hormuz.
Turning up the heat
The group — formally known as Ansar Allah — has been attacking Saudi Arabia’s ships after declaring a maritime blockade of the country last month.
Hostilities erupted in July after the group welcomed an Iranian plane in Yemen’s capital Sana’a, setting off a spate of tit-for-tat attacks.
The Houthis have hit Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and attacked Yemeni government forces since the latest round of fighting broke out.
They have also repeatedly targeted Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure and airports.
Riyadh has since launched air strikes on Houthi military positions and infrastructure in Hodeidah, Yemen’s main Red Sea port.
The blockade has threatened Saudi Arabia’s ability to export millions of barrels of crude oil per day.
On 31 July, Riyadh announced a new multinational maritime defence coalition, with 14 countries, including Pakistan, Turkey and Egypt, signing a founding statement to protect Red Sea shipping.
Embroiled in more than a decade of its own war, Yemen became the latest country to be dragged into the Iran war last month, when the Houthis upended a 2022 truce with the country’s internationally recognised government.
The Houthis, who came to power in late 2014 after storming Sana’a and seizing the presidential palace and key military sites, forcing Yemen’s government into exile, are part of Tehran’s so-called Axis of Resistance.
The Axis is a loose network of militant groups in several countries in the region, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza and militias in Iraq, which are all backed, trained and equipped by the IRGC to varying degrees.
While the Houthis do not control the part of Yemen’s coastline along Bab el-Mandeb, they hold territory less than 100 kilometres away.
Additional sources • AFP