Houthis Attack Yet Another U.S. Merchant Ship

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For the third time in a week, the Iranian-backed Houthis (Ansar Allah) has attacked a United States-owned merchant ship near Yemen.

The ship, M/V Chem Ranger, came under attack late on January 18. Brigade General Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the Houthis, said in a statement, said that the ship was targeted with “naval missiles” and received “direct hits.”

“The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that a retaliation to the American and British attacks is inevitable, and that any new aggression will not go unpunished,” the statement reads.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that the Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at the M/V Chem Ranger, but denied that the ship was hit.

“The crew observed the missiles impact the water near the ship,” the command said on X, previously known as Twitter. “There were no reported injuries or damage to the ship. The ship has continued underway.”

In an earlier post on X, CENTCOM announced strikes on two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the Southern Red Sea and were prepared to launch. This was the fifth wave of U.S. strikes to target the Houthis in a week.

The missiles were “an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region,” the command said, adding that “U.S. forces subsequently struck and destroyed the missiles in self-defense.”

The Houthis began attacking merchant ships in November, saying they were responding to the Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza. Since then, the group has launched dozens of attacks on Israel-affiliated ships passing through the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

The U.S. and its allies, first and foremost the United Kingdom, formed a naval coalition and began launching strikes on Yemen in response. However, the Houthis remain unfettered as evident by their recent attacks, which targeted three U.S.-owned ships.

Speaking after the last wave of U.S. strikes on Yemen, Mr Biden was asked by reporters in Washington DC if the attacks on Houthi targets were working.

“Well, when you say working are they stopping the Houthis? No,” Biden said.

“Are they gonna continue? Yes.”

In a bid to mount more pressure on the Houthis, the U.S. re-designated the group as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity earlier this week.

The recent actions of the U.S. and its allies have clearly failed to deter the Houthis, who have repeatedly vowed that the response to strikes on Yemen is coming.

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