wtf?
>>20529202 Mikdad: Washington’s support for the Israeli occupation and its protection at Security Council prove its partnership in Zionist crimes
Houthi Attacks Turn Deadly
By Jonathan Saul Reuters March 6, 2024
LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) – A Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on a Red Sea merchant ship on Wednesday, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said, the first fatalities reported since the Iran-aligned Yemeni group began strikes against shipping in one of the world’s busiest trade lanes.
The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, which set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen’s port of Aden.
In an earlier message on X responding to the Houthi claim, Britain’s embassy wrote: “At least 2 innocent sailors have died. This was the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping. They must stop.”
The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November in what they say is a campaign in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.
Britain and the United States have been launching retaliatory strikes against the Houthis, and the confirmation of fatalities could lead to pressure for stronger military action.
Appalled to hear about the deaths of MV True Confidence international crew members in a Houthi attack in the Red Sea. Our thoughts are with their families.
We condemn the Houthis' reckless & indiscriminate attacks on global shipping & demand they stop. We will continue to stand…
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) March 6, 2024
CENTCOM said the Houthi strike also injured at least four crew members and caused “significant damage” to the ship. Earlier, a shipping source said four mariners had been severely burned and three were missing after the attack.
The Greek operators of the True Confidence said the vessel was drifting and on fire. They said no information was available about the status of the 20 crew and three armed guards on board, who included 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese, two Sri Lankans, an Indian and a Nepali national.
A U.S. defense official said smoke was seen coming from the True Confidence. The official, who also declined to be identified, told Reuters a lifeboat had been seen in the water near the ship.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said it had received a report of an incident 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden, which lies near the entrance to the Red Sea, adding the vessel had been abandoned by the crew and was “no longer under command.”
“Coalition forces are supporting the vessel and the crew,” UKMTO said.
Stephen Cotton, general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the leading seafarers union, called for urgent action to protect its members.
“We have consistently warned the international community and the maritime industry about the escalating risks faced by seafarers in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. Today … we see those warnings tragically confirmed,” Cotton said.
Four days ago, the Rubymar, a UK-owned bulk carrier, became the first ship to sink as a result of a Houthi attack, after floating for two weeks with severe damage from a missile strike. All crew were safely evacuated from that vessel.
The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa. The cost of insuring a seven-day voyage through the Red Sea has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
While the militia has said it would attack vessels with links to the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel, shipping industry sources say all ships could be at risk.
The True Confidence is owned by the Liberian-registered company True Confidence Shipping and operated by the Greece-based Third January Maritime, both companies said in their joint statement. They said the ship had no link to the United States.
Further information will be provided as it becomes available.
https://gcaptain.com/houthi-attacks-turn-deadly-true-confidence/
‘Rubymar’ Anchor Seen as Likely Cause of Severed Red Sea Cables
By Olivia Solon and Mohammed Hatem (Bloomberg) — March 6, 2024
The anchor of a cargo ship that was attacked by Houthi militants was the most likely cause of damage to three telecommunications cables in the Red Sea in late February, according to a subsea cable trade group that includes companies operating in the region.
“It’s generally accepted that the Rubymar dropped an anchor when fired upon and as a result it damaged cables in proximity,” said Ryan Wopschall, general manager of the International Cable Protection Committee, the group representing subsea cable operators.
The Rubymar, a Belize-flagged commercial ship loaded with 41,000 tons of fertilizer, was hit by ballistic missiles in mid-February off the west coast of Yemen. Days later, the cables were damaged in the same area. The crew abandoned the 172-meter-long ship after dropping one of its anchors, and the vessel drifted for almost two weeks through an area of the Red Sea that’s densely populated with cables, before sinking on Saturday.
Telecoms Company Confirms Damage to Red Sea Submarine Cables
The Houthis have been attacking merchant and military ships in and around the southern Red Sea since mid-November, ostensibly in support of Hamas as it wages war against Israel in Gaza. The strikes have forced many merchant vessels to sail around southern Africa instead of through the Red Sea and Suez Canal — sending freight rates soaring and raising concerns about the security of a network of underwater cables that help transmit data across the world. The Rubymar was the first ship the Houthis have sunk.
Three out of more than a dozen cables that run through the Red Sea, a critical route for connecting Europe’s internet infrastructure to Asia’s, have been knocked offline as a result of the attacks: Seacom, AAE-1 and EIG. These cables carry about 25% of traffic in the region, according to estimates from Hong Kong-based internet provider HGC Global Communications, which uses the cables.
Although the telecommunications data that passes along the damaged cables has been re-routed, the incident highlights how vulnerable critical subsea infrastructure can be, particularly in relatively shallow waters with lots of cables.
The location also poses significant challenges to the cable repair process, and operators are scrambling to determine what kind of insurance and security their maintenance companies require to work in a conflict zone. The Houthis have said they won’t stop attacking vessels until Israel stops fighting.
Blame game
An early report by Israeli news site Globes alleged that the cables were sabotaged by Houthi militants, without providing any supporting evidence. Representatives for the Houthi government, which is not recognized by the international community, have denied targeting the cables. On Tuesday, Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, a member of the Houthi ruling political council, said on X that the US was responsible, without further explanation.
Moammar al-Eryani, the minister of information, culture and tourism at Yemen’s internationally-recognized government, told Bloomberg on Wednesday that even if the Houthis didn’t directly target the cables, they were to blame for the damage because of their “terrorist activities” in the Red Sea.
Data from the Rubymar’s location tracking device before the ship lost power indicates that it traveled close to the cables that were damaged. “The anchor would have scraped along the sea floor as it drifted and damaged the cables,” said Roderick Beck, a consultant who sources network capacity on subsea cables for telecommunications clients.
Under normal circumstances, ships have access to maps of subsea cables and avoid dropping their anchors in those areas. There are 14 in-service cables running through the Red Sea, with a further six planned, according to TeleGeography, which maintains a comprehensive map of the infrastructure.
Some reports have mentioned a fourth damaged cable, known as Tata TGN-Eurasia, but this is another name for the Seacom system, according to Tim Stronge, vice president of research at TeleGeography.
The South African company Seacom Ltd. controls the Seacom cable and Chief Digital Officer Prenesh Padayachee previously told Bloomberg the company couldn’t determine the cause of the damage until it had inspected it. But a dragged anchor seemed likely, he said.
The company expects to start repairs “early during Q2,” but the schedule depends on getting a permit to work in Yemeni waters, Seacom told Bloomberg in a statement.
https://gcaptain.com/rubymar-anchor-seen-as-likely-cause-of-severed-red-sea-cables/