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The British Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) announced late Friday that a commercial vessel had been subjected to two missile attacks approximately 130 nautical miles east of Aden, Yemen.
In a statement on the platform X (formerly Twitter), the UKMTO, which is part of the British Navy, reported: “We received a report of a commercial vessel being targeted by two missiles, with the first missile impacting 50 meters from the ship’s bow, while the second missile landed near the stern.”
This report follows an announcement by Sanaa government forces that they carried out two military operations on Thursday, August 22, targeting the oil tanker SOUNION in the Red Sea, successfully hitting it while it was sailing, and the vessel “Sw North Wind I” in the Gulf of Aden.
The Sanaa forces stated that these operations were in response to the ship owners’ violation of the maritime blockade on ports in occupied Palestine, aimed at pressuring for an end to the aggression and lifting the Israeli siege on Gaza.
On Thursday evening, Sanaa government forces released new footage documenting the raid and burning of the Greek vessel SOUNION, which had been targeted a week earlier for violating the owner’s ban on entry to Israeli ports.
The footage showed Sanaa naval soldiers boarding the SOUNION at sea, exploring its various sections, planting, and detonating explosive devices along the main deck. The footage also displayed holes in the ship’s side caused by prior remote strikes before the boarding.
The operation was filmed from multiple angles using drones, providing comprehensive coverage of the incident.
The release of the footage followed a speech by Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi (Ansar Allah) group, who revealed details of the SOUNION raid for the first time.
Al-Houthi explained that two naval teams executed the operations in two phases to destroy the cargo on board after rigging it with explosives.
He argued that the documented operation disproves U.S. claims of its ability to deter Yemeni operations in support of Palestine.
On August 23, Sanaa government forces had previously aired footage of the initial raid on and burning of the SOUNION, vowing to continue targeting ships linked to Israel in solidarity with Gaza.
The footage showed large, simultaneous explosions on the ship’s deck, leading to a massive fire.
The SOUNION is the third oil tanker owned by the Greek company Delta Tankers to be attacked this month, following previous assaults on the Delta Atlantica and Delta Blue.
According to Vanguard, the reason for targeting Delta Tankers vessels is that some of their ships had recently reached Israel. Security firm “ekad” confirmed this, noting that the “Delta Star” had docked in Israel last July.
مشاهد لإحراق القوات البحرية اليمنية السفينة اليونانية SOUNION في البحر الأحمر والتي قامت الشركة المالكة لها بانتهاك قرار حظر الدخول إلى موانئ فسلطين المحتلة pic.twitter.com/7h34dJiz2U
— الإعلام الحربي اليمني (@MMY1444) August 23, 2024
