The attackers tried to flee, however had been stopped by an American warship, the US Central Command claims
Armed assailants seized an Israel-linked tanker of the coast of Yemen, however surrendered when warships from the US-led counter-piracy pressure answered a misery name, based on the US Central Command (Centcom).
A bunch of gunmen boarded the Liberian-flagged Central Park vessel on Sunday, Centcom mentioned in an announcement on X (previously Twitter). Shortly afterwards, the USS Mason destroyer and different coalition vessels arrived on the scene and advised the assailants to launch the ship, the assertion learn.
“Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat. The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender,” Centcom mentioned.
During the pursuit, “two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location” of the USS Mason and the Central Park, it added. The missiles landed some 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) from the ships, inflicting no harm or accidents, based on the assertion.
Sources advised Fox News that the USS Mason fired warning photographs because it chased the assailants, whereas a US helicopter gunship was flying overhead. A Japanese destroyer apparently assisted the American vessel throughout the pursuit.
Centcom didn’t give particulars on the attackers, describing them as an “unknown entity.” The crew on board the Central Park is “currently safe,” it added.
Zodiac Maritime, a London-based worldwide transport agency owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, mentioned it might “like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law.”
According to the corporate, the tanker carries phosphoric acid is manned by 22-strong crew from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam.
Yemen’s exiled authorities has blamed the Houthi rebels, who management a lot of the nation’s north, together with capital Sanaa, for storming the Central Park ship. The incident was one essentially the most newest “acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime,” it mentioned in an announcement.
No group has to date claimed accountability for the assault. The Associated Press identified in its report that the incident occurred in part of the Gulf of Aden that “is fairly distant from Houthi-controlled territory.”
Last month, the Houthis warned that they might goal Israeli vessels alongside busy transport routes within the Red Sea in response to the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. They have additionally fired a number of drones and missiles into Israeli territory.
Every week in the past, the Houthis confirmed the seize of the Israel-linked cargo ship Galaxy Leader. The vessel been taken to the Yemeni port of Hodeida, the place it at present stays.
(RT.com)