Houthis attack another Star Bulk vessel

Image: UKMTO

Don’t say “whack a mole,” but as has happened before, multiple strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen by U.S. Central Command between February 7 and 10, appeared to produce a two day calm in the Red Sea that proved to be short lived. U.K. Maritime Trade Operations issuing no maritime warnings between February 9 and February 11. But today brought news of what appeared to be the second Houthi attack on a Star Bulk vessel, the Star Iris.

The UKMTO issued a warning at 00.35 UTC saying that it had received a report of an incident 40 nautical miles south of Al Mukha, Yemen, in which the master of a vessel reported that it had been attacked by two missiles and that the crew was safe and the vessel was proceeding to its next port of call.

In a social media post, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said “the naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces targeted the American ship Star Iris in the Red Sea with a number of suitable naval missiles, and the strikes were accurate and direct.”

Star Iris is a Marshall Islands flagged bulker owned by Athens-headquartered, NASDAQ listed Star Bulk Carriers and is the second Star Bulk vessel to be targeted by the Houthis. On February 6, the group attacked the Star Nasia, which reported that an explosion near the ship had caused minor damage but that it was proceeding on its voyage.

A report by the Reuters news agency cites maritime security specialist Ambrey as saying that the Star Iris had reportedly suffered damage to its starboard side. Reuters cites both Ambrey and analytics group Kpler as saying that the vessel was reportedly headed to Bandar Imam Khomeini, one of Iran’s biggest ports and a major grains terminal.