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Yemen’s Houthis (Ansar Allah) claimed responsibility on February 17 for an attack against what they described as a British oil tanker in the Red Sea.
“We attacked the British oil ship, Pollux, in the Red Sea with a large number of suitable naval missiles, and the hit was accurate and direct, thanks to God,” Brigade General Yahya Sarea, the Houthi military spokesperson, said in a statement.
“We confirm that we will continue launching missile attacks against Israel-linked commercial vessels and Israel-bound ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden,” he said, suggesting that his group will only stop if Israel halts its aggression on the Palestinian enclave of the Gaza Strip.
The spokesman also stressed that the Houthis will not hesitate to expand attacks “in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”
A day earlier, the United State Department said the Panamanian-flagged Pollux had been hit on its port side by a missile launched from Yemen.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a detachment of the Royal Navy, and British maritime security firm Ambrey also said that a tanker had reportedly been hit 72 nautical miles northwest of the Yemeni port of Mokha.
“The vessel … reportedly sustained minor damage. The crew was reported safe and unharmed,” Ambrey said in a statement.
The Pollux embarked from Russia’s Black Sea port city of Novorossiysk on January 24 and was due to discharge in Paradip, India, on February 28, according to LSEG data. The tanker is owned by Oceanfront Maritime Co SA and managed by Sea Trade Marine SA.
The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have targeted dozens of Israel-affiliated vessels and others owned by the U.S. and the UK in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November 19 in response to the ongoing Israeli war and siege on the Gaza Strip, which has so far claimed the lives of more than 28,000 Palestinians.
The Pollux was the second vessel to be targeted by the Houthis in the last 48 hours. The British Lycavitos commercial ship was also attacked on February 15.
The U.S. and the UK retaliated to the Houthis repeated attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden by carrying out dozens of strikes on areas controlled by the group in Yemen. However, as evident by their latest attacks, the Houthis remain unfazed by these strikes.
