Houthis strike Indian-flagged oil tanker with drone in Red Sea: US military
This is a representative image of an oil tanker
Yemen’s Houthi rebels attacked an Indian-flagged crude oil tanker with a drone in the Red Sea, the US military reported Sunday morning (Dec 24).
M/V Saibaba, a Gabon-owned tanker, reported no injuries after the attack but sent out an SOS call to a US warship operating in its vicinity.
The vessel, which is managed by an Indian company, was now on its way back to India. Crew members on the ship, all Indians, are reportedly safe.
The attack comes a day after another oil tanker came under drone attack off the Indian coast. The US on Sunday said the attack was carried out by Iran.
In total, two ships were targeted by Iranian-backed militants in the recent incident.
One of them, a Norwegian-flagged and owned chemical tanker named M/V Blaamanen reported a near miss of a Houthi drone, the US military said.
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The second one was M/V Saibaba, which was hit by the drone.
"A second vessel, the M/V SAIBABA, a Gabon-owned, Indian-flagged crude oil tanker, reported that it was hit by a one-way attack drone with no injuries reported. The USS LABOON (DDG 58) responded to the distress calls from these attacks," the US military said.
On December 23 two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles were fired into international shipping lanes in the Southern Red Sea from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen. No ships reported being impacted by the ballistic missiles.
Between 3 and 8 p.m. (Sanaa time), the USS LABOON (DDG… pic.twitter.com/jcBisbXBaS — U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 24, 2023
The Yemen-based militants also reportedly tried to attack a US warship operating in the Red Sea area.
Watch:Drone attack in Indian Ocean: Indian Coast Guard deploys ship for help
The US Central Command said a US Navy destroyer patrolling in the Red Sea knocked down four attack drones before they could strike the warship.
The USS Laboon "shot down four unmanned aerial drones originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen that were inbound toward the American vessel," Centcom said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), adding there were "no injuries or damage".
(With inputs from agencies)