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Yemen's Houthis take responsibility for attack against Dutch-flagged vessel

Yemen's Houthi terrorists claimed responsibility for the attack on the Dutch flagged general cargo ship Minervagracht that caught fire in Gulf of Aden on Wednesday.

Since 2023, the Iran-aligned group launched multiple attacks on ships in the Red Sea. They targeted vessels they believed to be linked with Israel as a show of solidarity with Palestinians in response to Israel's Gaza war.

The Houthis military spokesperson claimed that the attack on Monday was carried out with a cruise missile.

According to the EU maritime mission Aspides, and the vessel operator, the strike resulted in two sailors being injured and forced the evacuation of 19 members of the crew by helicopter.

Spliethoff, an Amsterdam-based operator, said that Minervagracht suffered substantial damage as well as a fire when it was struck in international waters of the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthis claimed that they attacked Minervagracht as its owner had violated the "entry ban to ports in occupied Palestine".

This was the first Houthi assault on a commercial vessel since September 1 when they attacked an Israeli-owned oil tanker, Scarlet Ray, near Yanbu in Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port.

The Houthis attacked the Magic Seas Bulk Carrier and Eternity cargo ship and sank them in the Red Sea.

The last major Houthi attack on a Singapore-flagged container ship was in July 2024. Reporting by Hatem Maher, Mohammed Ghobari and Leslie Adler; editing by Stephen Coates and Leslie Adler

(source: Reuters)