Houthis target Vietnamese-owned tanker, threaten attacks in Indian Ocean

Latest Houthi attack targeted a Vietnamese owned and operated tanker

The situation in the Red Sea gets no calmer. Today brought a report from UKMTO of a Houthi attack on a merchant vessel 76 nautical miles west of Al Hudayah. While UKMTO initially reported the master as saying that the vessel had been struck and had sustained some damage, in a subsequent update, the master reported that, upon a daylight inspection, it was found that the vessel had sustained no damage and was proceeding on its voyage.

Al Arabiya reported the Houthis as saying they had attacked the Pacific 01.

According to the Equasis data base that ship is a 105,095 dwt Panama-flagged oil tanker, formerly named Koro Sea, that since February this year has been owned and operated by Pacific Ocean Energy Transport JSC of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Al Arabiya cites maritime risk specialist Ambrey as saying that the “vessel was listed as Israel-affiliated but had changed ownership in February 2024,” adding that it was headed from Singapore to the Suez Canal with armed guards onboard.

Meantime Al Jazeera reports Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi as threatening that the group’s operations targeting vessels will escalate to prevent Israel-linked ships from passing through the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, saying:

“Our main battle is to prevent ships linked to the Israeli enemy from passing through not only the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, but also the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope. This is a major step and we have begun to implement our operations related to it.”

Meantime, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) continues its efforts to counter the threat posed by the group.

“Between 6:50 a.m. on March 14 and 12:40 a.m. on March 15 (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden and two additional ASBMs towards the Red Sea,” said CENTCOM in a post on X (formerly Twitter). “There were no injuries or damage reported to U.S. or coalition ships.

“Additionally, United States Central Command successfully engaged and destroyed nine anti-ship missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. It was determined these weapons presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region. These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels.”