Further attacks against shipping in the lower Red Sea have been reported, though some details remain sketchy.
Initial reports said the crude oil tanker named Amjad (IMO 9779800) owned by Saudi interests, and a Panama-flagged vessel named Blue Lagoon I (IMO 9248447) were subjected to attacks from the direction of Yemen on the morning of 2 September.
However, Bahri, the Saudi operator of Amjad has advised its vessel is safe and was not targeted or attacked on Monday 2 September.
“At approximately 06:27 UTC, we confirm that AMJAD was transiting north in the Red Sea, near another tanker that came under attack. We unequivocally affirm that Amjad was not targeted and sustained no injuries or damage. The vessel remains fully operational and is proceeding to her planned destination without interruption,” Bahri reported on Tuesday 3 September.
Amjad has the capacity to be carrying up to 2 million barrels of oil.
The other ship mentioned in the initial reports is the Suezmax crude oil tanker Blue Lagoon (IMO 9248447) which appears to have been the vessel referred to as sailing near the Amjad.
The original sources did say the two vessels named were sailing near each other, but only one was reported as having been hit.
Blue Lagoon I is reported to have been hit by three ballistic missiles.
The Joint Maritime Information Center, run by international naval forces to track Houthi attacks, said three ballistic missile attacks hit the Blue Lagoon I tanker on Monday 70 nautical miles northwest of the northern Yemeni port of Saleef.
The center “assesses that Blue Lagoon I was targeted due to other vessels within its company structure making recent port calls in Israel.”
According to reports from UKMTO (United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations) two ‘incidents’ took place on Monday 2 September and another on Friday 30 August. Taking the Friday attack first, at 17:00 UTC a vessel reported two missiles exploding in close proximity to the vessel, which was then 130 nautical miles east of Aden. No damage occurred to the ship and the crew were reported as safe while the vessel was proceeding on its voyage. The coordinates given were 122800N, 0471100E.
On Monday 2 September UKMTO reported an incident at 07:20 UTC 58 nautical miles west of Al Hudaydah, the port on the Yemeni Red Sea coast. The Master of a merchant vessel reported that the vessel was hit by an Uncrewed Aerial System (UAS). There were no casualties onboard and the vessel was proceeding to its next port of call. This was at coordinates 144500N, 0415100E.
The third report from UKMTO states that at 01:30 UTC on 2 September, UKMTO received a report of an incident 70 n.miles northwest of Saleef in Yemen. The master of this ship, which appears to have been the Blue Lagoon I, said his vessel had been struck by two projectiles, of which kind he was unable to say. Damage control was underway. He reported a third explosion in close proximity to his vessel, which remained underway and was proceeding to its next port of call. There were no casualties on board.
What remains surprising is how many ships are continuing to run the gauntlet of the Yemeni coast, with Houthis seemingly not necessarily discriminating only against Israeli-linked ships.
On 21 August the Houthis attacked the Greek-owned oil tanker MV Delta Sounion, which is carrying 1 million barrels of oil. It remains on fire in the Southern Red Sea and is disabled. Salvage efforts have been called off as too dangerous, threatening the possibility of a major environmental disaster.
The US military’s Central Command said “these reckless acts of terrorism by the Houthis continue to destabilise regional and global commerce, as well as put the lives of civilian mariners and maritime ecosystems at risk.”
Written by Africa Ports & Ships and republished with permission. The original article can be found here.
