Indian Navy evacuated ship crew in Red Sea after Houthi attack
India evacuated a ship's crew in the Red Sea after a Houthi attack (photo: Getty Images)
The Indian Navy evacuated the crew of the vessel True Confidence, which had been previously attacked by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, according to Reuters.
Earlier, militants fired a rocket at the vessel under the flag of Barbados when it was about 50 nautical miles from the Yemeni port of Aden, resulting in a fire onboard the ship.
It is reported that 20 crew members and three armed guards onboard were taken to a hospital in Djibouti by an Indian military ship. Two of the deceased were Filipino citizens, and the third was Vietnamese. It is noted that during the attack, two more Filipinos also suffered serious injuries.
The cost of insuring the seven-day passage of vessels through the Red Sea from November due to Houthi attacks has increased by hundreds of thousands of dollars. Around 23,000 ships a year pass through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Canal, accounting for around 12% of global trade.
Taking the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa adds about 10 days to the journey, delaying supply chains and pushing up costs.
First casualties after Houthi strikes in the Gulf of Aden
Earlier, it was reported that on March 6, the British Embassy in Yemen reported the shelling of the vessel True Confidence under the flag of Barbados. The diplomatic mission stated that at least two sailors were killed in the attack. The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that True Confidence allegedly belonged to Americans.
Later, it became known that as a result of a missile strike by Yemeni Houthis on the vessel True Confidence, sailing under the flag of Barbados through the Gulf of Aden, three sailors were killed and four others were injured. Earlier, there were reports of two fatalities.
