Brussels 30.03.2024 Yemen’s Houthis informed they have made six attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in the past three days.
According to a statement published on the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency, the trade vessels targeted include Maersk Saratoga, APL Detroit and Huang Pu, which are either US or UK affiliated.

Another ship, Pretty Lady, was attacked based on belief that its destination was Israel, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea wrote in a statement. Currently Pretty Lady, a Bulk Carrier was currently located at EMED-East Mediterranean, sailing under the Malta flag.

Meanwhile Maersk has denied that its vessel had been attacked, and referred to the alternative routs their ships are navigating in safety.

US Central Command reported an attack on Huang Pu but added, that Chinese owned and operated carrier, suffered minimal damage, and continued navigation as scheduled.

Houthi spokesman Yahya al-Sarea also announced that Houthi forces targeted two U.S. destroyers and carried out missile attacks on a number of targets near the southern Israeli port city of Eilat. These claims could not be immediately verified.

Sarea added that all “military operations achieved their objectives successfully”.

The Houthis have been targeting merchant vessels for months in response to Israel’s assault on Gaza.

British and American ships have also come under attack since the two countries began retaliating with airstrikes in Houthi-held areas of Yemen.

Meanwhile a detachment of warships of the Pacific Fleet (PF) entered the Red Sea, passing through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait. This was reported by Russian TASS News agency with reference to the information support department of the press service of the Eastern Military District for the Pacific Fleet.

The detachment includes the missile cruiser “Varyag” and the frigate “Marshal Shaposhnikov”. Previously, the ships successfully passed the Gulf of Aden, where they conducted exercises. Nowadays the detachment continues to fulfill its assigned tasks as part of a long-distance sea voyage. Russian press insists that “The Varyag cruiser is one of the most powerful ships of the Russian Navy and in the world, it is armed with Granit cruise missiles and S-300F anti-aircraft systems, while the Marshal Shaposhnikov frigate represents a family of the most modern multipurpose combat vessels”.

On March 26, the cruiser “Varyag” and the frigate “Marshal Shaposhnikov” practiced exercises to counter maritime piracy and destroy unmanned boats and drones in the Gulf of Aden. As part of an exercise to combat maritime piracy, the ships are said to have received a distress call from a merchant ship that was attacked by an armed group. Then they arrived in the area of the simulated pirate seizure and practiced actions to repel the attack.

Russian move is interpreted as a need to divert attention from the failures of the Black sea fleet, which lost around 20% of its warships due to Ukraine sea drones attacks.