Huti attacked ship with Polish crew

One sailor was seriously injured when a Polish operator’s merchant ship was fired upon by Yemeni Huti rebels in the Gulf of Aden, the US military reported.

Following the shelling, the Palau-flagged merchant ship Verbena reported “damage and fires on board” and that one sailor was seriously wounded, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a release.

The injured man was evacuated by US forces to a “nearby partner ship” for medical attention. A firefight is ongoing on board.

The Verbena, which has a Ukrainian owner and a Polish operator, had recently anchored in Malaysia and was heading to Italy with a cargo of timber for construction purposes. The Iranian-backed Huti attacked the vessel in the Gulf of Aden for the second time in 24 hours.

This is another Huti attack on merchant ships in the Red Sea in recent days. On 12 June, the bulk carrier Tutor, flying the flag of Liberia and owned by a Greek shipowner, was attacked off the coast of Yemen by a drone or unmanned surface vehicle. As a result of the explosion, the vessel was severely damaged.

The US Central Command stressed in a post on Platform X that “the reckless Western-backed Huthis are threatening regional stability and endangering the lives of sailors in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden”. “The Hutis claim to be acting on behalf of the Palestinians in Gaza, yet their targets are third-country nationals who have nothing to do with the (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict” – it reported.

Source: PortalMorski.pl