Houthi rebels have attacked another of Mediterranean Shipping Company’s boxships.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations stated that after the missile assault on 8 June, fires
broke out on the 5,900 TEU MSC Tavvishi and the 5,700 dwt multi-purpose ship Norderney,
which is owned by German tonnage provider Lauterjung Manfred.
UKMTO said that the attack on the 2000-built MSC Tavvishi occurred 70 miles southwest of
Aden shortly before midnight.
Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said that MSC Tavvishi and Norderney were targeted as
they “belonged to companies that violated the decision to ban access to the ports of
occupied Palestine (Houthi-speak for Israel)”.
US Central Command said that MSC Tavvishi reported damage after being hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile (ABSM) but continued its voyage to Djibouti. Another ABSM was fired
around the same time, but was destroyed by US forces.
It said that Norderney, which was sailing from India’s Jawaharlal Nehru port to Dijibouti, was hit by one ABSM and one anti-ship cruise missile in the Gulf of Aden, and while suffering some damage, went ahead with its voyage.
MSC has moved all Israel-linked ships out of the Persian Gulf, following the capture of MSC
Aries by Iranian forces. However, the latest assault shows the company itself is being
targeted.
On 26 April, one of MSC’s chartered ships, the 15,000 TEU MSC Orion, which is
owned by an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime that is controlled by Israeli tycoon Eyal Ofer, was
attacked by a long-range Houthi drone in the Indian Ocean.
Another of MSC’s ships, 6,078 TEU MSC Darwin VI, was attacked by Houthis twice, on
separate occasions in April.
The Houthis have been intensifying their attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,
after assaulting three ships in the first week of June. Even as the US continues with its
strikes against Houthi bases in Yemen, advisory WTW said that the Iran-backed rebels have
adequate inventories of ammunition to persist with their assaults over the next six months.
