The Houthis have launched five anti-ship ballistic missiles at a Chinese-owned and operated oil tanker was attacked off Yemen, despite the Houthi’s recent agreement with China to give safe passage to all Chinese shipping in the Red Sea.
“Yemen-based Houthis fired a missile at a Chinese-owned oil tanker called M/V Huang Pu on Saturday, the U.S. Central Command said.
The Iranian-backed Houthis first fired four missiles in the vicinity of the oil tanker, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter. They then fired a fifth missile toward the ship, which issued a distress call but didn’t request assistance, Centcom said.
The vessel suffered minimal damage and a fire on board was extinguished within 30 minutes. No casualties were reported.
U.S. later engaged six Houthi unmanned drones over the southern Red Sea. Five crashed into the Red Sea, and one flew inland into Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The attack on the Huang Pu comes even after the Houthis previously said they wouldn’t attack vessels from China”. -Yi Wei Wong, Bloomberg
On account of the Houthis’ inability to access accurate ship registration data, as well as the fact that the M/V Huang Pu was British-owned up until September of 2023, the Houthis have thus far been unable to keep their end of the bargain to guarantee the safe passage of Chinese vessels through the Red Sea.