Houthi Missile Hits US Vessel Off Coast Of Yemen

A Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile struck a US-owned and operated vessel, US Central Command said in a statement. The vessel was the M/V Gibraltar Eagle. The M/V Gibraltar Eagle is a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier owned and operated by US-based Eagle Bulk. This comes a few weeks after President Biden ordered strikes against other Iran-backed militia groups which had similarly been attacking Americans.

It sustained minor damage and did not report any injuries, Central Command said. The White House and US Military had been expecting some sort of response from the Houthis after the US struck Houthi targets a few days ago. The US strikes on the Houthis came in response to Houthi attacks on US and UK ships in the Red Sea.

These attacks from the Houthis represented an attack not just on American and British ships, but on the wider shipping of goods in the Red Sea. This is critical, because 12% of global trade flows through the Red Sea. The problem is that the Houthis don’t even need to be successful in their targeting of ships to succeed in creating a de-facto blockade. They just have to keep attempting, and many Western commercial vessels will simply not risk moving their ships through Red Sea waters.

It remains to be seen how successfully defeat the Houthis. Even with overwhelming military superiority, the US won’t be able to prevent the Houthis from launching air strikes. The US can shoot down all Houthi attacks, and severely damage Houthi vessels, but commercial vessels may still choose not to tis going through the Red Sea.

Following US-led strikes on Thursday against nearly 30 sites in Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen with more than 150 precision guided munitions, the Biden administration said the US will defend its assets and interests in the region. “We will stand fully prepared to defend ourselves and defend that shipping, if it comes to it,” John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said on Friday.

The Houthis had said that any US or UK asset would be a “legitimate target,” so it is very likely that we could see attacks on American and British ships continue for the foreseeable future. And even after the US strikes, much of the Houthi’s offensive ability remains in tact.

The United States-led airstrikes on Thursday and Friday damaged or destroyed about 90 percent of the targets struck, but the Houthis retained about three-quarters of its ability to fire missiles and drones at ships transiting the Red Sea, two U.S. officials said on Saturday.

A top U.S. military officer, Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims, said on Friday that the strikes had achieved their objective of damaging the Houthis’ ability to launch the kind of complex drone and missile attack they had conducted on Tuesday. But the two U.S. officials cautioned that even after hitting more than 60 missile and drone targets with more than 150 precision-guided munitions, the strikes had damaged or destroyed only about 20 to 30 percent of the Houthis’ offensive capability.

It seems like the US-led engagement with the Houthis will be going on for quite a while.