Houthis Hit Singapore-Registered Containership Bound for Somalia
The authorities in Singapore and the UK Maritime Trade Operations confirmed that a Singapore-flagged containership sustained minor damage in the latest Houthi attack on merchant ships. As with earlier attacks, the Houthis’ spokesperson said the vessel was targeted for violating its ban on Israeli ports.
The vessel, the 30,375 dwt Lobivia departed Djibouti on July 16 and was sailed around the Horn of Africa for a destination in Somalia. Reports place the containership approximately 83 nautical miles southeast of Aden, Yemen when it was struck by an “unknown projectile.” The ship reported a resulting fire that was extinguished by the crew.
The Lobivia, built in 2001, is managed by Asiatic Lloyd of Singapore and reported to be operating in the charter market. The ship has a capacity of 1,650 TEU. Some reports are linking the ship to CMA CGM’s service between India and Africa, although it does not show on the French group’s current vessel tracking system. It has been operating in the region for months, including in February it aided with the evacuation of the bulker Rubymar after it was damaged in another Houthi attack.
After the attack, reports indicate the vessel took evasive actions possibly to reduce the danger of a second attack. The Houthis have frequently staged a series of attacks on vessels they are targeting. An Israeli vessel was targeted three or four times over the course of several hours earlier this week.
The Lobivia turned off its AIS signal after the attack. It advised the Maritime and Port Authority in Singapore that it was proceeding to Somalia. The military forces in the region are reporting that the vessel has not requested assistance. The containership will undergo a full damage assessment when it reaches its next port.
Another vessel targeted by the Houthis this week, the tanker Chios Lion is also reporting that it proceeded under its own power and is arriving in Safaga, Egypt. Tracking services said that a 125-mile-long oil slick appeared in the Red Sea after the tanker was struck on July 16. Official reports said it was being investigated if the vessel was leaking, but it was acknowledged that the tanker reversed course after the attack.
Today’s attack came as the EUNAVFOR Operation Aspides also released updated statics on its five months of operations. They are using four naval vessels and report having over 800 personnel at sea. Since launching, the operation says it has had 250 requests from merchant vessels and covered over 32,000 miles. Aspides reports it has provided 2,500 hours of protection services to merchant vessels.
Attacks have become less frequent with many days with no specific reports. U.S. Central Command however provides daily updates which detail the number mostly of aerial or surface drones that were destroyed in a 24-hour period.
Despite this, the Houthis continue their threats saying they are moving into new phases of their escalation, including the successful strike of a drone on Tel Aviv overnight that killed one person and injured at least 10 others. Israeli officials are saying the drone was identified and that it was human error that it was not stopped before it hit the apartment building in the city. The Houthis have also made multiple claims of attacks on ships in the Mediterranean but none have been substantiated.
Yemen's Houthi Rebels Claim Long-Range Drone Strike on Tel Aviv
Drone debris may resemble a device that Houthis have used against Red Sea shipping
Yemen's Houthi rebels have claimed responsibility for a drone strike that hit an apartment building in the Israeli city on Thursday night, killing one resident and wounding four. If confirmed, it would appear to be a rare example of a foreign-launched strike reaching a target inside Israel's well-developed ring of air defenses - and at unusually long range for the Houthis. Initial bystander reports and multiple local media accounts suggest that the drone came from seaward, which would require a large course deviation if launched from Yemen.
The Houthi group has demonstrated considerable ability in launching drone strikes on merchant shipping in the Red Sea, but Tel Aviv is 1,000 nautical miles north of Houthi-controlled territory - beyond the maximum range of its known drones. The Houthi group has previously targeted the Israeli port of Eilat, which is geographically closer, but without success.
Images taken by bystanders at the scene in Tel Aviv show components of a midsize drone with straight wings, and surveillance cameras near the scene captured the sound of a loud internal combustion engine - like a typical drone turboprop - just before the explosion. Israeli forces have confirmed that the blast was caused by an "aerial target."
Early open-source intelligence analysis of the drone debris points to a Houthi-operated family of UAVs, the Samad series. This design carries the name of former Houthi leader Saleh al-Sammad, who was killed in the Yemeni civil war in 2018.
The long-range variant, the Samad-3, has been identified by Israeli forces as the same as the Iranian-built KAS 04 - a drone which Iran-backed Houthi forces have used against U.S. shipping in the Red Sea. The destroyer USS Carney shot down a KAS 04 that came near a U.S.-flagged ship in the Red Sea last November. The KAS 04 also gained notoriety for its use by other Iranian proxy forces, who deployed it to launch attacks on American outposts in Iraq in 2021.
Oher operators of the same drone are much closer: another Iranian-supplied proxy - Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, which regularly exchanges cross-border fire with Israeli forces - is known to operate similar UAV models.
"The math [of a Houthi strike] just doesn't add up, at all. Unless it's an entirely new system, or launched from somewhere else, not Yemen," said Charles Lister, director of the Middle East Institute's Syria division.
In a statement Friday, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree claimed that the attack was carried out using a new model of long-range drone, the "Yafa." He asserted that the design is capable of bypassing Israeli radars and air defenses, and he pledged further attacks to come.
Video: Tanker Reverses Course After Being Damaged in Houthi Attack
The Greek-owned crude oil tanker Chios Lion (107,525 dwt) reversed course in the Red Sea to leave the danger zone with reports the vessel was possibly leaking oil after a Houthi attack. Today, the Houthis also released a video of the attack saying the tanker which was southbound from the Suez Canal was targeted because its operators were calling in Israeli ports.
U.S. Central Command confirmed the attack by a drone boat but said the Chios Loin was not requesting assistance. The master told the authorities that the ship was “lightly damaged,” and that the crew was safe after the attack at midday on Monday, July 15.
The vessel, however, is now reported to have reversed course away from Yemen. Its AIS signal remains off with the last transmission showing a message of “Sec team on board.” The attack took place approximately 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah, Yemen.
“While originally headed south, following the attack the vessel turned around and back north out of the threat area to further assess damage and investigate a potential oil spillage,” the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said on Tuesday.
Registered in Liberia, the vessel is managed from Greece. UK-based digital solutions provider Vanguard reports that the same management company had been previously targeted by the Houthis at the end of June. The vessel Transworld Navigator was targeted four times between June 21 and 23 Vanguard said in its analysis of the situation. The 177,900 dwt bulker however arrived in Turkey on July 12 reporting it had not been damaged.
The attack on the Chios Lion was one of three incidents reported by UKMTO on Monday which included a bomb boat that failed to explode and three missile attacks all on a single Israeli-owned tanker. The Bentley I is carrying vegetable oil from Russia to China and was not damaged despite the repeated attacks. The Houthi spokesperson also claimed an attack on a tanker in the Mediterranean but both the vessel’s owner and the Cypriot authorities denied any such attack to Reuters.
CENTCOM also reported destroying a total of five aerial drones in the past 24 hours. Three were over the Red Sea and two others were over Yemen.
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