Yemen: Ansar Allah group claims responsibility for targeting a Norwegian tanker with a cruise missile after its crew refused to respond to warning calls

The Yemeni “Ansar Allah” group said on Tuesday that they had carried out a military operation targeting the commercial tanker Strinda, which flies the Norwegian flag.

The group’s military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said in a statement broadcast on television that the group targeted the tanker with a sea missile after its crew refused to respond to warning calls.

He added that the group “succeeded during the past two days in preventing the passage of several ships that responded to the warnings of the Yemeni naval forces, and did not resort to targeting the Norwegian ship loaded with oil except after its crew rejected all warning calls”.

Ansar Allah group renewed its pledge that it will continue to prevent all ships of all nationalities from heading to Israeli ports until the food and medicine brought in by our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip.

The US Central Command (Centcom) announced that a missile launched by the Ansar Allah group hit a tanker flying the Norwegian flag on Monday while it was sailing off Yemen, noting that there were no immediate reports of casualties as a result of this strike.

Centcom wrote on X, that the ship Strinda, a chemical tanker, was hit while passing through Bab al Mandab by a winged cruise anti-ship missile launched from Yemen from an area controlled by the Houthis.

Centcom added that the ship reported damage that caused a fire on board, noting that there were no immediate reports of casualties.

According to the statement, the destroyer USS Mason of the US Navy responded to a distress call launched by the Norwegian ship and extended a helping hand.

Centcom confirmed in its post that there were no American ships near the place at the time of the attack where the tanker was hit by the missile.

The tanker Strinda is 144 meters long and was built in 2006.

It was sailing towards the Suez Canal when it was hit by the missile.

The ship is owned by Winkel Chemical Tankers AS, a company headquartered in Bergen, Norway.

This attack comes after the right-wingers vowed on Saturday to prevent the passage of ships heading to Israeli ports through the Red Sea, unless food and medicine are brought into the Gaza Strip.

Hours after this threat, the French Armed Forces Chief of Staff announced that its frigate in the Red Sea shot down two drones launched from Yemen and heading towards it.

Since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, the Red Sea and its surrounding waters have witnessed a series of attacks, most of which were claimed by the Houthis.

Their most prominent attacks included seizing a commercial ship and launching missiles and drones at naval targets, and another towards the city of Eilat in southern Israel.

Earlier, the British Maritime Trade Office said in a post on X on Tuesday that it had received a report about an entity declaring itself to be from the Yemeni Navy and ordering a ship to change its course to a Yemeni port.

The British Maritime Trade Office said early Tuesday that it had received a report about an accident affecting a ship in the vicinity of Bab al Mandab, west of the port of Mokha in Yemen, which led to a fire breaking out on it, adding that all crew members are fine.

On Tuesday morning, the British Maritime Trade Operations Department announced that a fire had broken out on board a ship near Bab al Mandab, and said it was advising ships to be careful.

According to press reports, a security incident occurred against a ship 15 kilometers from the city of Hodeidah in western Yemen, where a cruise missile was launched west of the port at an Israeli ship.

The official spokesman for the Yemeni “Ansar Allah” group, Yahya Saree, announced on his Telegram channel that an important statement will be issued by the Yemeni armed forces in the coming hours.

Earlier, the group announced that it would prevent the passage of ships heading to Israel of any nationality if the food and medicine it needed didn’t enter the Gaza Strip.

It’s noteworthy that the Houthis seized the ship “Galaxy Leader”, owned by Israeli businessman Rami Ungar, who is the founder of Ungar Holdings LTD and the founder and owner of Ray Shipping LTD, one of the largest car importers in Israel.

The Yemeni Ansar Allah group seized the ship last November, in response to the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of thousands of Palestinians, and took it to a port in western Yemen.

The group vowed to target all types of ships flying the Israeli flag, and those operated or owned by Israeli companies.

Last Sunday, the US Department of Defense, the Pentagon, announced that an US warship and several commercial ships were subjected to attacks in the Red Sea.

On Monday, the White House considered that the attacks on ships in the Red Sea were supported by Iran, while targeting three ships earlier this week constituted a threat to international peace and stability.