Amid ongoing tensions in the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks on merchant ships over the past few months, new details have emerged about an attack on a US-flagged ship carrying grain to Aden.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on Wednesday that the ship, MV Sea Champion, was slightly damaged after being targeted by two ballistic missiles in the Gulf of Aden, fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.
CENTCOM said in a statement that there were no injuries in the attack, which occurred on Monday, and that one of the missiles exploded near the ship, causing minor damage.
It also revealed that the ship was carrying a cargo of grain, and that it continued its journey to deliver the shipment to Aden despite the attack.
CENTCOM added that the MV Sea Champion has delivered humanitarian aid to Yemen 11 times in the past five years.
Greek shipping ministry sources confirmed that the ship was carrying grain from Argentina to Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized Yemeni government, and that it was attacked twice on Monday, damaging a window but causing no injuries to the crew.
A source at Aden port, who declined to be named, said the attack was a mistake.
A separate source in Hodeidah said the Houthis had informed them that the attack was unintentional, according to Reuters.
The US-based shipping company Mega Shipping, which operates the ship, and Greek shipping ministry officials declined to comment on the news of the ship’s arrival.
However, the latest data from marine traffic tracking company Marine Traffic showed the MV Sea Champion docked at Aden port at 1211 GMT.
Earlier, CENTCOM announced that it had destroyed a missile launch pad and a drone in Houthi-controlled areas, and that it had also shot down another anti-ship ballistic missile after it was launched, without affecting any commercial or international coalition ships in the region.
It added that it had shot down 10 drones in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in the past few hours.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree announced on Tuesday the attack on several US ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea using drones.
He also said that “sensitive sites in Eilat in southern Israel were hit by a number of drones, and an Israeli ship in the Gulf of Aden was bombed with naval missiles.”
Since the outbreak of the war in the Gaza Strip on October 7, the Houthis have attacked more than 45 ships with missiles and explosive drones, according to unofficial US estimates.
US forces themselves have also been directly attacked several times, some of which have hit their ships, the Pentagon has previously confirmed.
The attacks have disrupted global shipping and raised concerns about global inflation.
Several companies have been forced to stop their voyages through the Red Sea and prefer a longer and more expensive route around Africa.
There are also concerns that the repercussions of the four-month war between Israel and Hamas could destabilize the Middle East and widen the conflict.
In response, US and British warplanes have carried out retaliatory strikes in various parts of Yemen in recent weeks, threatening more if the attacks on this internationally important shipping lane continue.
The Houthis, for their part, have vowed to “escalate their strikes unless the Israeli war and the blockade on Gaza are stopped.”
