A missile is said to have hit a ship owned by Greeks and flying the flag of Malta in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. This is the third incident involving the bulk carrier in the past 24 hours. The ship, which is thought to be called Zografia, has been at the center of a lot of trouble in the area. This comes after the US military said it had taken weapons from Iran that were meant for the Houthi rebels during an operation last week.
The latest event happened while the US was still bombing areas of Yemen that are held by the Houthis. The US military said that four anti-ship ballistic missiles that were ready to be launched in areas held by the Houthis were destroyed. In response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the US and UK launched bombings on a number of Houthi targets on January 11.
The Houthis have promised to fight back against acts like the recent US operation, but the exact target has not been made public. Earlier, the US said it had blocked a missile from a Houthi area that was aimed at one of its warships. The Houthis also claimed credit for firing a ballistic missile at a US-owned cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.
No one has yet been officially blamed for the attack on the Greek-owned ship, but it fits with a pattern seen in other attacks thought to be by the Houthis. Since November, the group has allegedly been attacking several ships as a way to protest Israel’s conflict with Hamas. The Houthis say they are going after ships with ties to Israel, but many of the ships they are going after don’t have those ties.
There were 24 people on board the Zografia, which was going from Vietnam to Israel with no goods. It was hit. Lucky for everyone, no one was hurt, and the carrier only suffered minor damage.As things get worse, many shipping lines are changing their routes to go around the Cape of Good Hope instead of the Red Sea path. A big British oil company called Shell has stopped all shipments through the Red Sea until further notice.
The US says that the weapons that were found during the recent raid near the coast of Yemen show that Iran is helping the Houthis get advanced conventional weapons (ACW). The Houthis have been attacking commercial ships since November 2023, and this is the first time that these kinds of weapons have been found. This traditional boat, called a dhow, was carrying weapons. It was deemed dangerous by the US, which sank it.
Washington says that Iran is helping the Houthis get better missiles, but Tehran rejects these claims. In a speech, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister, asked the West to leave the war in Yemen.In a separate event, the Greek ambassador to Iran is said to have asked Tehran to free the captain of an oil tanker who was captured last week. Armed men got on the St. Nikolas near the port of Sohar in Oman and told it to sail to a port in Iran.
Iran says that this was done to get back at the US for taking the ship and its cargo last year. Empire Navigation, the owner of the ship, said that Iran told them that all 19 crew members are safe and healthy.The geopolitical situation in the area is getting worse, which makes people worry about the safety of maritime travel and the chance of more fighting between the people involved.
Follow for more dailyguidelines updates Click here