In first fatal assault, at least two sailors dead in Houthi attack in Gulf of Aden

The Houthi militia claimed responsibility for an attack on a commercial vessel off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday that Western officials said killed two or three people, the first fatalities from Houthi attacks since the group began targeting ships late last year.

The crew abandoned the ship, the True Confidence, according to British and American authorities.

“At least two innocent sailors have died,” the British Embassy in Yemen said in a statement. “This was the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping. They must stop.”

In what they call acts of protest against Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have launched missiles and drones at many ships transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, disrupting global trade. The United States and Britain, with support from several allied countries, have responded with airstrikes on Houthi targets, but the attacks have continued.

In a statement Wednesday, the Houthis said they had warned the ship’s crew before firing missiles at the True Confidence. The Houthi spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, added that a fire broke out on the ship.

The US military’s Central Command, in a statement late in the day, said that three people on the ship were killed and four were wounded, “of which three are in critical condition,” and that there was “significant damage to the ship.”

Western security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly put the casualties at two dead and six injured.

Although the Houthi spokesperson called the vessel an American ship, the True Confidence is a bulk carrier sailing under the flag of Barbados, according to multiple websites that track global shipping. A spokesperson for the ship’s managers, Pat Adamson, said the vessel is owned by True Confidence Shipping and operated by a Greek company called Third January Maritime. It has no connection with any American entity, he said.

Shipping websites showed that it had departed from China, and it was bound for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Adamson said its cargo included steel products and trucks.

A crew of 20 people — one Indian, four Vietnamese and 15 Filipinos — and three armed guards — two Sri Lankans and one Nepalese — were on board, Adamson said, though he did not specify who had died.

The UK Maritime Trade Organization, an arm of the British navy, said the incident had taken place 54 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni city of Aden.

US Central Command said that “coalition warships responded and are assessing the situation.”

A spokesperson for the US State Department, Matthew Miller, said the United States would continue to work with allies to degrade the Houthis’ capabilities and to deter their attacks. He declined to specify what actions the United States might take.

Although the Houthis initially pledged to target any ship with links to Israel, they have since said their attacks are also in retaliation of the “American-British aggression” against them. The ships they have targeted have been connected to more than a dozen countries.

Their campaign has left shipping companies with difficult decisions, as they weigh sailing thousands of extra miles around Africa or paying increased insurance premiums if they sail through the Red Sea. Both options inflate shipping costs.

Attacks on the Red Sea have also posed environmental risks. Last week, when a British-owned cargo ship sank in the Red Sea after being damaged in a Houthi missile attack, the United States said the attack had created an 18-mile oil slick, creating an “environmental disaster.”