Maritime and military sources reported that the cargo ship Sea Champion, flying the Greek flag, arrived at Aden Port in southern Yemen on Tuesday after reportedly being hit by a missile attack thought to be accidental, launched by the Houthi movement in the Red Sea. The risks to maritime shipping have escalated due to repeated attacks in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait carried out by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement using drones and missiles since November. The United States and Britain have responded with several strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen but have not yet succeeded in stopping their attacks.
The U.S. Central Command stated late Tuesday that the Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at the Sea Champion, which is a U.S.-owned cargo vessel. They added that one of the missiles exploded nearby, causing slight damage to the ship. Sources from the Greek Ministry of Shipping revealed that the Sea Champion was carrying a shipment of grain from Argentina to Aden, the seat of the internationally recognized Yemeni government, and was attacked twice on Monday, resulting in damage to a window but no injuries among the crew.
The U.S. Central Command noted that the ship had delivered humanitarian aid to Yemen 11 times in the past five years. An anonymous source at Aden port stated that the attack on the ship was a mistake. A separate source in Hodeidah, also requesting anonymity, indicated that the Houthis informed them that the attack was unintentional. The latest data from MarineTraffic, a shipping tracking company, showed the Sea Champion docked at Aden Port at 12:11 GMT.
