India-Bound Oil Tanker Hit by Houthi Missile in Red Sea
NEW DELHI, Apr 27: India-bound oil tanker Andromeda Star was hit by the missiles of the Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea as the militants continued to attack commercial ships in the area in a show of support to Palestinians fighting against Israel in the Gaza war, Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said on Saturday.
The ship’s master reported damage to the vessel, British maritime security firm Ambrey said.
Sarea said the Panama-flagged ship was British-owned, but shipping data shows it was recently sold, according to LSEG data and Ambrey. Its current owner is Seychelles-registered. The tanker is engaged in Russia-linked trade. It was en route from Primorsk, Russia, to Vadinar, India, Ambrey said.
Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden since November, forcing shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
The attack on the Andromeda Star comes after a brief pause in the Houthis’ campaign that targets ships with ties to Israel, the United States and Britain. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier sailed out of the Red Sea via the Suez Canal on April 26 after assisting a U.S.-led coalition to protect commercial shipping. The Houthis on Friday said they downed an American MQ-9 drone in airspace of Yemen’s Saada province.
(Manas Dasgupta)
