Despite
reports of a safe-passage agreement between the Chinese government and Yemen's
Houthi rebels, the militant group has launched multiple ballistic missiles at a
tanker owned by a Hong Kong-based holding company, according to U.S.
forces.
In the
early hours of Sunday morning, 24 Mar, Iranian-backed Houthi militants launched four
anti-ship ballistic missiles into the Red Sea near the merchant vessel Huang
Pu, a Panamanian-flagged, Chinese-owned, Chinese-operated crude oil
tanker.
At 1625 hours local time, a fifth
ballistic missile was launched toward the Huang Pu. The ship issued a distress call but
did not request assistance, Central Command said. Huang Pu suffered
some minor damage from the fifth and final missile attack, and a fire broke out
on board. The crew extinguished it within 30 minutes. No casualties were
reported, and the tanker continued on its commercial voyage.
The U.S.
military noted that the Houthis had previously announced that they would not
attack Chinese vessels, but later decided to launch missiles at Huang
Pu anyways.
Up until
January 2024, Huang Pu was named the Anavatos II, and
its then-owner and shipmanager shared an address in the United Kingdom. It has
been widely suggested that Houthi forces have mistakenly identified the vessel
as a UK-linked ship - one of the Houthis' preferred nationalities for
targeting - because they used outdated information.
In its
Equasis record, Huang Pu is currently owned and operated by a
new holding company in Hong Kong, Hera Gam Ltd., which has only one
vessel.
U.S.
Central Command described the tanker as "Chinese," and multiple media
outlets have verified this statement using the Hong Kong address in Huang
Pu's Equasis record. However, any entity of any nationality may create
an anonymous company in Hong Kong, then use it as a listed shipowner of record.
The ease and speed of registration make the region a preferred global
jurisdiction for shell companies, both for Chinese and foreign
interests. Without more information, the nationality of the ultimate beneficial
owner cannot be verified. The
Houthi group's military spokesman, Yahya Saree, has not released a statement on
the reason for the Huang Pu attack.
On the
same morning as the attack on Huang Pu, USS Carney engaged
six Houthi drones over the Red Sea, shooting down five. The surviving drone
flew back to safety in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. Central Command assessed that the drones posed an imminent threat to
U.S. forces and merchant shipping.