The Maritime: Chinese military ship attacked by Houthis off Eritrea

A ship belonging to a Chinese military services company was attacked on Thursday by two Houthi boats off the coast of Eritrea on the other side of the Red Sea.

The Maritime Executive website, which specializes in maritime logistics, quoted the maritime security consulting firm Vanguard as saying, “Small Houthi boats approached suspiciously two floating arms depots off the coast of Eritrea on Thursday, including one operated by a prominent Chinese security company.”

He added: "On August 15, the Siam barge, owned by the private Sinbad Shipping Company, reported the approach of two boats flying the Houthi flag," noting that "one of the boats was carrying clearly armed individuals."

"There was no clash, and the two boats left the area. As of Thursday, the AIS signal shows that they were located off the coast of Eritrea, on the other side of the Red Sea off the Houthi-controlled coast of Yemen," he continued.

Later that day, Chinese private maritime security company Sinogards reported that one of its floating warehouses, the Sunny Ocean, had been attacked by boats, and the crew on board fired warning shots to deter approaching boats. An Italian warship was dispatched to the scene to assist.

British maritime security company Ambrey announced on Thursday that a commercial ship reported an attempt to approach it, including the firing of small arms fire, in waters 92 nautical miles northeast of the Eritrean port of Massawa in the Red Sea waters adjacent to the Yemeni coast, according to Reuters.

This is the third attack launched by the Iran-backed Houthis on Chinese ships since they began operations against cargo ships last November.

According to previous press statements by the Chinese Chargé d'Affaires to Yemen, Shao Cheng, the Houthis had previously attacked two Chinese ships in the Red Sea after they thought they belonged to other countries.

Since last November, the Iran-backed Houthi militia has been launching drone and missile attacks on cargo ships sailing in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen, claiming that this is in support of Gaza, which has been subjected to a devastating Israeli war since October 7. These attacks have negatively affected shipping, trade and global supply chains.

As a result, the United States formed a military coalition led by it, and since the beginning of this year, it has been carrying out strikes alongside Britain that it says target the Houthis’ military capabilities, in response to their attacks on cargo ships, which the Houthis responded to with attacks on American and British naval ships, considering them “military targets.”