On Wednesday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced the killing of three seafarers on board a merchant ship in the Red Sea via a Houthi missile attack. These deaths mark the first fatalities reported as a result of the Iranian proxy group strikes in the Red Sea.
The attack itself set a Greek-owned ship with a Barbados flag named “True Confidence” on fire. This attack occurred roughly 50 nautical miles from the Yemen port of Aden, which was claimed by the Houthis. Following the attack, Britain’s embassy declared on X that “at least 2 innocent sailors have died”. CENTCOM stated that the Houthi strike resulted in “significant damage” to the ship itself and injured a minimum of four crew members. The Greek operators of the ship state that True Confidence was “drifting and on fire”. There was no available information regarding the status of the 20-person crew and three armed guards aboard the ship. A separate shipping source declared that three of the mariners were missing following the attack and four suffered severe burns. Houthi attacks on maritime trade and shipping in the Red Sea have been ongoing since November, with both Britain and the U.S. launching retaliatory strikes. This attack comes just four days after the first ship sunk, a UK-owned bulk carrier, following a Houthi attack. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced the report of the attack located near the entrance to the Red Sea. According to UKMTO, the attack occurred 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden and the ship had been abandoned.
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