Two container ships struck off Yemen in Gulf of Aden: US, UK report

The Swiss-owned Tavvish and German-owned Norderney container ships were damaged by Iran-backed Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles fired within the last 24 hours, the US Central Command said on X on June 10.

Tavvish is destined for Djibouti and is owned by MSC Mediterranean Shipping while Norderney is headed for Dubai's Jebel Ali and is owned by Briese Schiffahrts, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea. Both the companies haven't replied to the emails sent by S&P Global Commodity Insights at the time of publication.

The attacks in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen occurred over June 8 to June 9, causing fires, the UK Maritime Trade Operations earlier said on X.

"Damage control is underway," it said about the latest incident 70 nautical miles southwest of Aden, adding that no one was hurt and that the ship was proceeding to its next port of call.

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The incident occurred at 2339 GMT on June 8, or 3:39 am Dubai on June 9. The earlier incident at 2000 GMT on June 8 caused a "small fire" in the mooring station that has since been put out, UKMTO said. The crew on that ship was also safe as they headed for their next port of call.

The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have vowed to step up attacks against ships in the Red Sea in retaliation for the Israel-Hamas war. The last week of May saw a surge in Houthi attacks, with 12 commercial ships hit by drones and missiles sailing in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, according to a June 7 update by the Yemen Data Project on US and UK strikes against Houthis in Yemen and Houthi attacks on commercial ships.

One ship was hit, the Greek-owned bulk carrier Laax on May 28.

A handful of Houthi attacks have resulted in serious casualties, including the sinking of the 32,211-dwt general cargo ship Rubymar, and the deaths of three seafarers aboard the 50,448-dwt bulk carrier True Confidence.

Many ship operators and cargo owners, including BP, have diverted their ships away from the Red Sea to sail around Africa on longer routes for crew safety. Some customers have turned to air transport instead of shipping, with air cargo volume in Africa last month up 20% from 2019 before COVID-19, while it was 6.4% higher in Middle Eastern volume over the same period, according to the International Air Transport Association.

Platts, part of Commodity Insights, assessed the LR2 clean tanker rate for shipping 75,000 mt of refined products from the Persian Gulf to the UK Continent at $80/mt June 7, compared with $51.33/mt Oct. 2, before Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.