While efforts to
degrade the capabilities of the Houthis to attack merchant shipping continue,
they have not yet put a stop Houthi missile attacks on ships. Yesterday 15 Jan Gibraltar
Eagle, a Marshall Islands flagged ship owned and operated by Stamford,
Conn., headquartered Eagle Bulk Shipping, was struck by what U.S. Central
Command says was an anti-ship ballistic missile fired from Houthi-controlled
areas of Yemen. The vessel reported no
injuries or significant damage.
Today, another bulker,
the 56,894 dwt Maltese-flagged, Greek-owned Zografia, operated by
Vulcanus Technical Maritime Enterprise was struck by a Houthi missile at
approximately 1:45 p.m. (Sanaa time) when 100 nautical miles northwest of
Saleef, Yemen.
“The damage to the vessel is described minor and no
injuries have been reported among the crew of 24 people, which comprises three Filipinos, 20 Ukrainians and
one Georgian national,” Ekathimerini
reports a spokesman for Vulcanus as saying, adding that there
are no Greeks on board and that the vessel was sailing without cargo from
Vietnam to Israel when struck. It is now headed to Suez for a detailed
assessment.Reporting the incident U.S. Central Command said that earlier in the
day at approximately, 4:15 a.m. (Sanaa time),
U.S. Forces struck and destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles
prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
Central Command has
also released details of a January 11 action in which U.S. CENTCOM Navy forces
conducted a night-time seizure of a dhow conducting illegal transport of
advanced lethal aid from Iran to resupply Houthi forces in Yemen.It is clear that Iran continues shipment of
advanced lethal aid to the Houthis. This is yet another example of how Iran
actively sows instability throughout the region in direct violation of U.N
Security Resolution 2216 and International law,” said General Kurilla, “We will
continue to work with regional and international partners to expose and
interdict these efforts, and ultimately to reestablish freedom of navigation.”