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The campaign of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis on commercial ships claimed its first fatalities on Wednesday when an attack on a Barbados-flagged dry bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden left at least two seafarers dead.
The deaths of the mariners on the True Confidence, sold days ago by US private equity group Oaktree Capital, were confirmed by the UK’s embassy in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, shortly after the Houthi rebel group claimed responsibility for the attack.
While the Houthis have attacked more than 40 ships since the start of their campaign in November, there had previously been no serious injuries to mariners. The most serious previous attack, on February 19, led to the sinking of the dry bulk carrier Rubymar. Its crew all abandoned ship safely.
“At least two innocent sailors have died,” the embassy wrote on the social media platform X. “This was the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping.”
The Houthis’ official spokesman, Yahya Sare’e, claimed the attack, calling the True Confidence an “American ship”.
Sare’e renewed the claim by the group, which has Iranian backing, to be acting in support of Gaza’s Palestinians.
According to a statement from the ship’s managers, the vessel had a crew of 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese and one Indian. There were also three security guards — two Sri Lankans and one Nepalese.
The vessel is owned by True Confidence SA, registered in Liberia, and managed by Third January Maritime, based in the Greek port of Piraeus. It was owned until a few days ago by Oaktree, which is still listed on many maritime databases as the vessel’s owner.
The ship, which was carrying a cargo of steel products and trucks from the Chinese port of Lianyungang to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Aqaba in Jordan, was flying the flag of Barbados.
There was no immediate confirmation of the identities of those killed or of injuries among the crew. Unconfirmed reports suggested the death toll might rise.
The Houthis have launched attacks on ships that they describe as Israeli, British or American. Many of the attacks have been made on the basis of tenuous links or outdated or incorrect information on maritime websites.
The statement on behalf of Third January said the vessel was “drifting, with a fire continuing onboard”.
The attack seems likely to have been a result of the ship’s previous ownership by Oaktree, one of the US private equity firms that is most active in shipping investment. One person familiar with the issue said the vessel had changed hands to the new owners as recently as February 27.
The managers’ statement said there was “no current connection with any US entity”.
Martin Kelly, senior Middle East analyst at EOS Risk Group, a maritime security practice, said the Houthis used “a number of open sources” to determine whether a vessel was connected to countries or entities they felt were legitimate targets.
“Entries on open-source platforms such as Marine Traffic are often used, which may not have been updated with recent ownership details, leading to attacks on unconnected vessels,” Kelly said. “This may have been the case with True Confidence.”
The Houthis started a campaign of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in November, following the outbreak of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations office said on Wednesday morning that it had received reports of an incident 54 nautical miles south-west of Aden in Yemen. “Vessels in the vicinity have reported a loud bang, and a large plume of smoke sighted,” it wrote on X.
Earlier, it noted an incident from a similar location reporting a vessel that had been hailed over radio by an entity identifying itself as the Yemeni navy and ordering it to change course. The Houthis regard themselves as the legitimate authorities throughout Yemen.
Additional reporting by Felicia Schwartz in Washington