The fire, which fortunately did not cause any casualties, took several hours to bring under control. The ship was hit when it was far from the Houthi rebels' usual strike zone.
The 110,000 dwt chemical tanker Marlin Luanda, owned by British shipping company Oceanix Services and chartered by Trafigura, was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by Houthi rebels on Friday 26 January. A fire broke out on board and the crew took several hours to put it out with the help of military sailors who came to their aid. No one was injured in the attack. The ship, which was bound for Singapore from Greece, was believed to be carrying a cargo of naphtha, a highly flammable hydrocarbon.
The ship was 60 miles southeast of Aden when it exited the Red Sea and was struck. This shows that the area where the Houthi rebels operate is not limited to the south of the Red Sea.
Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack and said it was a response to “US-British aggression”. The military forces of both countries have carried out several attacks on Houthi rebel ground bases, in addition to anti-drone and anti-missile defenses. During the day on Friday, the USS Carney shot down an anti-ship missile that was heading towards it. At the same time, the Panamanian ship Achilles reported seeing two missiles explode in the water off its port side.
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