2023-12-03 23:49:00
The US destroyer USS Carney on Sunday provided aid to three commercial ships targeted by attacks from Yemen in international waters of the Red Sea. The US military’s Middle East Command says it has shot down three drones that were targeting cargo ships.
Published on: 04/12/2023 – 00:49
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Tensions in the Red Sea continue unabated. A US destroyer shot down three drones on Sunday, December 3, while providing assistance to commercial ships targeted by attacks from Yemen, the US Middle East Military Command (Centcom) said in a statement.
Earlier, the Houthis announced, in a statement posted on social media, that they had carried out an “operation against two Israeli ships in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait”, a strategic waterway linking the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, targeting the first ship with a “missile and the second with a drone”.
“Today (Sunday) there were four attacks on three separate commercial vessels operating in the international waters of the southern Red Sea,” Centcom assured. “The Arleigh-Burke-class destroyer USS Carney responded to the ships’ distress calls and provided assistance,” shooting down three drones that were heading toward the warship during the day.
Today, there were four attacks against three separate commercial vessels operating in international waters in the southern Red Sea. These three vessels are connected to 14 separate nations. The Arleigh-Burke Class destroyer USS CARNEY responded to the distress calls from the…
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 3, 2023
The USS Carney detected a missile, fired from an area of Yemen controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, which landed near the Bahamas-flagged ship Unity Explorer. The cargo ship then reported minor damage from another missile coming from a rebel-held area.
Read alsoIsrael-Hamas War: with the attacks of the Houthis in Yemen, the specter of an “escalatory logic”
The ship Number 9, a Panamanian-flagged bulk carrier, reported being damaged by a missile coming from Yemen, without reporting any casualties. The Sophie II, which also flies the Panamanian flag, indicated that it had also been hit, without suffering significant damage.
Centcom believes that these attacks represent “a direct threat to international trade and maritime security”.
“We also have every reason to believe that these attacks, although launched by the Houthis in Yemen, are entirely financed by Iran,” Centcom said. “The United States will consider all appropriate responses in full coordination with its international allies and partners.”
Two attacks claimed by the Houthis
The Houthi rebels’ claim only mentions the attack on two boats – the Unity Explorer and the Number 9 -, one targeted with a “missile”, the other “with a drone”, the statement said, after the buildings “rejected warning messages” from the Houthis.
The rebels said they would continue targeting Israeli ships “until Israeli aggression against our brothers in the Gaza Strip ceases.”
Also readCargo attack: are the Houthi rebels threatening global maritime trade?
Earlier in the day, maritime security company Ambrey reported that a Bahamas-flagged British cargo ship was hit by rocket fire in the Red Sea, “about 34.5 km west-north -west of Mocha, Yemen.
“The crew would have retreated” to a secure area of the boat, added the maritime security company.
According to Ambrey, ownership and management of the attacked vessel is linked to Dan David Ungar, a British citizen listed as an Israeli resident in Britain’s main business directory.
These incidents come against a backdrop of increased tensions in the Red Sea after Houthi rebels seized the merchant ship Galaxy Leader with its 25 crew members on November 19.
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