[Regnum] For the first time, the Yemeni Houthis attacked a commercial ship in the Mediterranean Sea, the Essex ship en route to Israel was attacked, military representative of the movement Yahya Saria said on May 24, as reported by Al Masirah TV channel.
“Missile forces carried out a series of strikes on the Israeli vessel Essex in the Mediterranean Sea because it violated a ban on passage to ports in occupied Palestine,” he said.
Saria also said the Houthis launched ballistic missile attacks on the MSC Alexandra in the Arabian Sea and attacked the Yannis, owned by the Greek company Eastern Mediterranean Maritime, while it was in the Red Sea.
As Regnum reported, a day earlier, the leader of the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement, Abdel Malik al-Houthi, said that the Houthis carried out one of the operations in the Mediterranean Sea, without specifying its details. According to him, in a week a total of eight operations were carried out using 15 missiles and drones in the Red and Arabian Seas, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. In total, the number of ships associated with Israel, the United States and Britain that were attacked reached 119.
On May 18, a missile hit an oil tanker off the coast of the Yemeni city of Moha. After this, a fire broke out on board. The ship was flying the flag of Panama. It received minor damage and continued to its next port of call.
Later, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) clarified that the Houthis allegedly attacked the M/T Wind oil tanker, which was allegedly heading to China. The US military claims that the ship moored in Russia before the voyage. It was operated by a Greek operator but flew the Panamanian flag.
On May 15, the Houthis said they attacked the American destroyer Mason in the Red Sea with a missile. In addition, they also launched a missile attack on the commercial ship Destiny, which was heading to the Israeli port of Eilat.