Latest Houthi Attack on Ship Ends in Fatalities

It's the rebels' first fatal assault on shipping since they launched assaults over war in Gaza

By Kate Seamons

Posted Mar 6, 2024 2:05 PM CST

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Houthi Attack on Ship Ends in First Fatalities — This photograph shared by Indian navy on the X platform shows a firefighting team from Indian Navy vessel INS Kolkata responding to a fire on Liberian-flagged Merchant ship MSC Sky II caused due to a suspected drone/missile attack in the Gulf of Aden, Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (Indian Navy on X via AP)

Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war have ended in fatalities for the first time. US officials say two crew members were killed in a missile strike on the Liberian-owned, Barbados-flagged True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday. Survivors were forced to abandon ship, with CBS News reporting by way of a US defense official that six others were injured. "The targeting operation came after the ship's crew rejected warning messages from the Yemeni naval forces," a Houthi rep claimed, saying the attacks would not cease until the "siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza is lifted."

Putting the development in context: The AP sees the attack as "further escalat[ing] the conflict on a crucial maritime route linking Asia and the Middle East to Europe that has disrupted global shipping. The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched attacks since November, and the US began an airstrike campaign in January that so far hasn't halted the rebels' attacks."
A dotted line connection to the US: The AP notes it's unclear why the Houthis went after the True Confidence, but it had previously been owned by US-based Oaktree Capital Management. The BBC reports that under its current ownership, the vessel had been en route to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from China with a cargo of steel items and trucks.

(More Houthis stories.)

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