A spokesman for the Yemeni Houthi terrorist organization identified the Panamanian-flagged, Chinese-owned-and-operated Huang Pu as one of several ships it attempted to bomb in the past 24 hours, incorrectly identifying it as “British.”
General Yahya Saree, a top mouthpiece for the Shiite terrorist movement formally known as “Ansar Allah,” said the Huang Pu was one of four ships the Houthis targeted with ballistic missiles and drones between Monday and Tuesday. The owner of at least one of the ships – the Danish shipping giant Maersk – denied that the vessel in question had reported any such attack.
The Houthis declared war on Israel in October as a gesture of solidarity with Hamas, a similarly genocidal Sunni terrorist organization that, like the Houthis, heavily depends on Iranian funding and political support. With “direct backing” from Iran – according to an on-the-record comment from a Hamas official to the BBC – Hamas staged an unprecedented slaughter of civilians, including children as young as infants, in Israel on October 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people, abducting another 250, and engaging in atrocities such as gang rape, torture, and desecration of corpses. The Houthis enthusiastically applauded the massacre.
An Israeli flag is placed next to a house destroyed by Hamas militants in Kibbutz Be’eri, Israel, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2023. The kibbutz was overrun by Hamas militants from the nearby Gaza Strip on Oct.7, when they killed and captured many Israelis (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit).
To support Hamas’s genocidal attack on Israel, the Houthis launched a campaign in late 2023 to disrupt global commercial shipping lanes leading to and from the Red Sea. Houthi leaders initially claimed they would only target ships doing business with Israel, but have since expanded their official targets to American and British ships, responding to those countries conducting airstrikes on Houthi targets. In reality, however, Houthi drones and missiles have targeted a variety of commercial ships, many with no clear relationship with the named targets and some linked to Houthi allies such as Iran, Russia, and China.
The Houthi bombings of allied assets have apparently continued even as Houthi officials claim that not just those three countries, but the entire BRICS coalition – which includes Russia, China, and Iran, as well as India, Brazil, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates – are aiding their quest for “the historic defeat of the US, the UK and the West.”
The Huang Pu is the Houthi target with the most direct links to China, as it is owned and operated by a Chinese company. Saree, the Houthi spokesman, nonetheless triumphantly declared an attack on the ship to be an attack on Britain.
“The Air Force, with the help of Allah Almighty, carried out a qualitative military operation targeting two American war destroyers in the Red Sea,” Saree reportedly said, according to the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese outlet al-Manar. The outlet claimed the Houthis listed its targets as “the American ship (MAERSK SARATOGA) in the Gulf of Aden, the American ship (APL DETROIT) in the Red Sea, the British ship (HUANG PU) in the Red Sea, and the ‘PRETTY LADY’ ship which were heading to the ports of occupied Palestine [sic].”
Saree also claimed that the Houthis bombed the Israeli Red Sea port city of Eilat.
Saree’s declarations appeared to contain numerous errors, beginning with the false identification of the Huang Pu. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the division of the Pentagon operating in the Middle East, confirmed the attack on the Chinese-owned Huang Pu on March 23, describing the damage as “minimal.”
“No casualties were reported, and the vessel resumed its course. The Houthis attacked the MV Huang despite previously stating they would not attack Chinese vessels,” CENTCOM observed.
Prior to Saree’s declarations, the Maritime Executive reported that it was possible the Houthis believed the ship to be British. The Huang Pu transferred ownership from a British-based company to a Chinese company in January, so it was possible the Houthis were using old ownership records to identify the vessel’s origins, the publication theorized.
The embarrassing bombing of the Huang Pu occurred mere days after reports of Chinese officials meeting with Houthi terror leaders to broker a formal deal to protect its shipping in the region. Both the governments of China and Russia reportedly sent delegates to Oman for a meeting with Houthi leaders in March to negotiate the terms of the agreement. Even before these reports surfaced, however, the Houthis had made public declarations ensuring they would not target ships unrelated to Israel, America, or Britain, especially signaling out Russia and China.
While CENTCOM confirmed that the Houthis had attempted to target some of the U.S. Navy’s assets in the region this week, Maersk, which operates the Saratoga, issued a statement saying it had no knowledge of the ship facing any terrorist attack.
“We can confirm that no such incident was reported by the vessel, which is currently safely continuing her normal journey far from the mentioned location,” Reuters quoted Maersk as clarifying in a statement.
The alleged bombing of Eilat also remains unconfirmed. The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday that it “was not immediately clear which, if any, of the targets” the Houthis hit, including Eilat itself.