Houthis fire missile at Israeli tanker in northern Red Sea amid heightened tensions

Yemen-based Houthi militants attacked a tanker managed by Israeli shipping magnate Idan Ofer in the northern Red Sea, the Iran-backed rebel group said Sept. 1 while reaffirming they would continue to target Israeli maritime traffic in the region amid heightened geopolitical tensions.

The tanker Scarlet Ray was directly "hit" by the militants' ballistic missile, the Houthis said in a statement on X, though the strike was not confirmed by other sources.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations and Ambrey reported an explosion near a ship nearly 40 nautical miles southwest of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia on Aug. 31 without naming the vessel, but said that the ship was not damaged and continued its voyage.

According to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data, the Liberia-flagged Scarlet Ray is a chemicals tanker with a deadweight tonnage of 19,974 mt and owned by Ofer-controlled Eastern Pacific Shipping.

"All crew members onboard the Scarlet Ray are safe and accounted for," Eastern Pacific Shipping told Platts in an email. "EPS is monitoring the situation closely in coordination with the relevant authorities and security advisors."

Houthi militants resumed attacks on regional shipping in July following a seven-month hiatus. Since the Israel-Hamas war broke out in October 2023, Houthis have claimed 130 attacks on ships in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and Bab al-Mandab Strait in what they say is a response to Israel's ongoing military action in Gaza.

"The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm their continued support for the Palestinian people," according to the X statement. "These operations will not be ceased until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip is lifted."

The Scarlet Ray was transporting nearly 18,200 mt of chemical products from Saudi Arabia's Yanbu to India's Magdalla at the time of incident, according to CAS data. It had not been operating in the Red Sea in recent years.

Heightened tensions

The militants have warned that all shipping companies with ships calling at Israeli ports would be targeted. On Aug. 6, the Houthis said it had sent warning letters to 64 shipowners for trading in Israel without naming them.

All of those owners' "ships are hereby prohibited from transiting the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait, the Gulf of Aden, and the Arabian Sea, and will be subject to targeting wherever they fall within the reach of the Yemeni Armed Forces," the Houthis said in an emailed statement then.

The Scarlet Ray incident occurred to the north of the Houthis' usual target area, signaling a potential escalation after Ahmed al-Rahawi, the Yemeni prime minister appointed by them, was reportedly killed in an Israeli air strike on Aug. 28.

Also on Aug. 28, France, Germany and the UK said they would start the process of reimposing some UN sanctions on Iran to pressure OPEC's third-largest crude producer to comply with an international nuclear program.

The Houthi attacks have driven away most ship operators from the Red Sea to take longer routes around the southern tip of Africa, supporting freight rates and bunker consumption.

Latest IMF PortWatch data showed the average daily ship transits via the Bab al-Mandab Strait stood at 27 in the week ended Aug. 24, compared with the pre-war level of more than 70.

Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed the LR2 rate for shipping 90,000 mt of clean products from the Red Sea to northwestern Europe at $33.33/mt Sept. 1, up 3.5% on the day.