Houthi Group Claims To Have Hit US Container Ship

The Houthi movement in Yemen has said it has struck a US merchant ship it named as KOI in the Red Sea in a fresh attack targeting commercial shipping.

However, according to two maritime sources, it was reported that the Houthi claim was fake even if the US and UK authorities are yet to say whether an attack took place.

Meanwhile, the US launched new air strikes in Yemen and ten drones reportedly being set up to launch were targeted in the strike.

According to newsmen, the KOI is a Liberian-flagged container ship operated by UK-based Oceonix Services, whose fleet includes the oil tanker Marlin Luanda, which was damaged by a missile on Sunday.

The Houthis regard all Israeli, US and British ships as legitimate targets following Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, and US and British targeting of Houthi missile positions in what the two countries say are efforts to protect commerce.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Wednesday that the movement’s armed forces had targeted an American merchant ship named KOI with “several appropriate naval missiles”.

The ship, he said, had been heading to “the ports of occupied Palestine”, a phrase which is sometimes used to mean Israel.

Trade Winds, a trade journal, also claimed that the claim was fake and that a sick crew member had actually been taken off the ship for medical attention.

Sarea, however, restated that in response to “British-American escalation,” the Houthis would “not hesitate” to take revenge.

“All American and British ships in the Red and Arabian Seas are legitimate targets for the Yemeni Armed Forces as long as the American-British aggression against our country continues,” the Houthi spokesman said.

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