Yemen's Houthis launched a missile attack on a tanker en route from Russia to India in the Red Sea
Yemen's Houthi rebels are continuing attacks on merchant ships linked to Israel, the US and Britain, as well as Western coalition warships in the Red Sea. Since January of this year, the British-American group in the Middle East has periodically carried out attacks on military targets identified in the Houthi-controlled territory of Yemen, but has not been able to suppress the rebel activity. The United States, Great Britain, and the warships of some European states that seem to have joined them are unable to protect commercial shipping, which is why the military operation in the Red Sea was launched.
India's oldest English-language newspaper, The Times of India, reports another Houthi attack on a merchant ship in the Red Sea. This time, as a result of a missile strike from Yemen, the oil tanker Andromeda Star (formerly Fulmar), which was flying the Panama flag from the Russian Primorsk to the Indian port city of Vadinar, was damaged. The ship's captain confirmed that the tanker received minor damage as a result of the rocket attack. The US Central Command (Centcom) confirmed the attack on the tanker, but as a result it remained afloat and continued to follow its intended course.
According to the British information and financial company London Stock Exchange Group, the vessel was recently sold, the current owner is registered in the Seychelles. However, Yahya Saria, a representative of the paramilitary wing of the Yemeni Houthis Ansar Allah, said that in fact the tanker belongs to a British company.
The Yemeni Navy attacked the British oil ship Andromeda Star in the Red Sea with missiles that hit the target accurately.
- Ansar Allah said in a statement published on social networks.
Experts note that the Houthis most likely this time incorrectly identified the true identity of the oil tanker they attacked. Previously, the military-political leaders of the Yemeni rebels have repeatedly assured that they will not attack Russian ships. According to data from the ship movement monitoring system, the 250-meter Andromeda Star transported up to 115 thousand tons of oil from the Baltic Primorsk to India. To avoid an accidental attack by Ansar Allah, the crew even indicated via AIS that they were going this route. However, this did not help.
According to the European shipping safety information system Equasis, the Andromeda Star was indeed owned by the British UML Abbey until November 17, 2023, but then became the property of Algae Marine, which is registered in the Seychelles. True, the real beneficial owner of this offshore company is unknown.
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