Houthis claim responsibility for attack on British ship in Red Sea

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for attacks on Friday that damaged a ship sailing through the Red Sea, a recurring scenario within this group's actions against maritime traffic in the midst of the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.

According to the UK maritime security agency, a vessel was damaged on Friday in two attacks 14 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni city of Mokha that caused no casualties.

The Houthis, a group backed by Iran, have been threatening navigation through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for months, supposedly in "solidarity" with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"A British oil tanker, the Andromeda Star, was hit by naval missiles. The ship was directly hit," the rebels backed by the Iranian theocracy said in a statement.

The British security company Ambrey reported an incident in the same sector where "three missiles were detected."

This firm pointed out that the vessel closest to this incident was an oil tanker associated with the United Kingdom that changed ownership in 2023 and now flew the Panamanian flag.

Currently, "the ship's owner is registered in Seychelles and carries out commercial activities linked to Russia. The tanker was en route from Primorsk, in Russia, to Vacinar, in India," Ambrey said.

The Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, began launching attacks in November against ships they considered linked to Israel in the Red Sea.

The United States and its allies launched a multinational force in December to protect traffic in the Red Sea and have launched, together with the United Kingdom, attacks against Houthi positions in Yemen.

The rebels then decided to expand their targets to ships related to the United States and the United Kingdom.