Three killed in Houthi attack on cargo ship in Red Sea

Three people were killed as a result of a missile attack on a cargo vessel in the Red Sea off Yemen on Wednesday, March 6.

The three victims, which included one Vietnamese and two Filipino nationals, were serving as crewmembers aboard the Barbados-registered bulk carrier True Confidence when it was attacked some 50 nautical miles off the port of Aden at around 12:30 local time on Wednesday.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which resulted in an onboard fire.

The Philippine government, through the Department of Migrant Workers, said True Confidence’s manning agency reported that a missile struck the ship’s fuel tanks, igniting a blaze that quickly spread through the superstructure and forcing the crew to evacuate.

The 17 other crewmen and three armed security personnel on True Confidence have since been evacuated. Three of the survivors had suffered non-life-threatening injuries and are being treated in hospital in Djibouti.

The ship had earlier departed China with a cargo of steel and with a final destination of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia when the incident occurred.

The attack on True Confidence is reportedly the first Houthi strike on commercial shipping that resulted in fatalities.