Houthi missile attack on ship in the Gulf of Aden leaves three people dead.

 

The True Confidence showing damage. BBC/Centcom. 

A Houthi missile attack on a ship in the Gulf of Aden has left three people dead and four injured. BBC. The deaths are the first ones in a series of attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The Houthis are trying to blockade the area to support Hamas in their war against Israel. The Barbados flagged freighter True Confidence was hit by a the missile and set on fire. The ship has been abandoned and set adrift. It was carrying a cargo of steel and trucks from China to Saudi Arabia. Airstrikes were launched by the United States in response to the attack but the strikes appear to have had limited effects. The Houthis have been successful at attacking shipping and have managed to sink a ship, the Rubymar. 

My Comment:

Sooner or later the Houthis were going to kill someone in their campaign the shut down shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. They have had close calls already and even managed to sink a ship. But now one of their missiles struck home and three people are dead. 

It does look like the True Confidence was hit at the aft of the ship, near the bridge. It also looks like the missile strike also set the ship on fire, which was probably why it was abandoned. I would not be surprised if the ship sinks, like the Rubymar did, though it might take some time to do so. If the fire is uncontrolled though, it might be quicker. Supposedly they are doing salvage but I don't know if they are going to be able to save the ship. 

As expected the United States launched air strikes in response to this attack. Those airstrikes do not appear to be doing much as the pace of attacks from the Houthis has not decreased at all. Indeed, they are not running out of missiles, drones and other weapons. Plus, these are mobile weapons system that are hard to track and easy to launch. Our airstrikes are not hitting targets that are worth hitting for the most part. 

Indeed, I have said for awhile that Biden had no good options in Yemen. It would be extremely hard to stop these strikes without troops on the ground. Doing so would be starting a brand new war in the Middle East and would be extremely unpopular. And doing so has no guarantee of success. The Houthis are incredible fighters that managed to fight Saudi Arabia, a much more advanced and powerful nation armed with modern US equipment, to a standstill. 

But the status quo isn't working either. Our operations to stop these attacks and defend against them are not working. Our naval vessels have so far managed to survive but they have not managed to protect the ships that are being attacked. Indeed, with this latest attack it is easy to argue that our mission there has been a major failure. 

I think this attack will further limit shipping through the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea. Insurance rates are going to go through the roof to the point it will be more profitable to take the extra long journey around the Cape of Good hope. That trip takes a lot longer, four weeks if I recall correctly, but shipping companies are not going to be willing to risk missile attacks after people have died. 

As for the Houthis, it shows how much naval warfare has changed. I mentioned this the other day with my post on the Black Sea war between Russia and Ukraine. Though the Houthis are better armed and led than most people realize, they are armed by Iran and are the de facto government of Yemen, they have still shown that a small, well armed country can counter the Navy of the most powerful country in the world. Just like Ukraine showed that a country with no real navy can stand against the most powerful Navy in the region just because they have missiles and drones.