A chemical tanker owned by Idan Ofer’s Eastern Pacific Shipping came under attack from the Houthis yesterday.
The five-year-old, 20,000 dwt Scarlet Ray reported an explosion nearby while underway passing the coastline of Saudi Arabia. No casualties or damage to the ship was reported, with the vessel continuing on its voyage.
“The timing is significant, coinciding with heightened regional tensions and renewed threats of retaliation from Yemen’s Houthi movement following the death of a senior leader,” stated an update from Trident Risk Advisory. Friday saw Israeli aircraft take out a building in Yemen containing senior Houthi officials.
According to Trident, yesterday’s incident was the furthest north a Houthi-linked attack has been recorded since the group began targeting commercial shipping nearly two years ago.
“It is too early to determine whether this represents a broader strtaegy of escalation, or is a one-off response to the Israeli targeting of Houthi ministers. However, Saudi Arabia is unlikely to tolerate repeated strikes occurring so close to its EEZ and territory,” stated an update from maritime security specialists Vanguard Tech.