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Ship Evacuated After First Civilian Fatalities in Houthis’ Red Sea Attacks
An aerial view of the Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze following a Houthi missile attack at sea, March 6, 2024, in this handout photo. Photo: DVIDS/Handout via REUTERS
India’s navy evacuated all 20 crew from a stricken vessel in the Red Sea on Thursday, after a Houthi attack killed three seafarers in the first civilian fatalities from the Yemeni group’s campaign against the key shipping route.
The Iran-aligned terrorists fired a missile at the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated True Confidence on Wednesday about 50 nautical miles off the southern Yemeni port of Aden, setting it ablaze.
In a statement, the owners and manager said all 20 crew and three armed guards on board were taken to the hospital in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa by an Indian warship.
Two of the dead were Filipino nationals, while the third was Vietnamese, the owners and managers said, expressing condolences to families. Two other Filipinos were also severely injured.
Vietnam on Thursday condemned the attack, and said one of the Vietnamese crew died while the remaining three nationals were in good health.
Images released by the Indian Navy showed a helicopter winching crew members from a small life raft in choppy seas and taking them to a naval ship.
Some wounded were shown lying in the bottom of a navy lifeboat sent to assist. They were carried on stretchers onto the ship and were shown later with heavily bandaged limbs as they were evacuated to the Djibouti hospital.
“The vessel is drifting well away from land and salvage arrangements are being made,” the companies said in the statement.
A salvage contract for the vessel has been signed, a spokesperson for the companies told Reuters, declining further details citing security issues.
The Houthis have kept up a relentless campaign of attacks on vessels in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes since November, in what they say is solidarity with the Palestinians during Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza.
“The loss of life and injuries to civilian seafarers is completely unacceptable,” leading global shipping associations said on Thursday.
“The frequency of attacks on merchant shipping highlights the urgent need for all stakeholders to take decisive action to safeguard the lives of innocent civilian seafarers and put an end to such threats.”
The cost of insuring a seven-day voyage through the Red Sea has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars since November.
War risk insurance rates have already reflected the sinking of the Rubymar cargo ship, days after being hit by a Houthi missile on Feb 18, and the first fatalities from the True Confidence, said Munro Anderson, head of operations at marine war risk and insurance specialist Vessel Protect – part of Pen Underwriting.
“So, the degree to which they create any further upwards pressure is likely to be limited in the short term,” he said.
“This is, however, predicated on how events evolve from this point forward.”
SAILORS’ WELFARE
The Houthis have used an array of sophisticated weapons, including ballistic missiles and “kamikaze drones,” despite retaliatory US and UK-led strikes on their bases in Yemen aimed at crippling their ability to attack.
Stephen Cotton, General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the leading seafarers union, also called for better protection.
“No delivery window is worth the loss of seafarers’ lives,” he said. “We call on the industry to divert ships around the Cape of Good Hope until safe transit through the Red Sea can be guaranteed.”
Around 23,000 ships a year pass through the narrow Bab al-Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Canal, accounting for around 12 percent of global trade.
Taking the longer route around the Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa adds about 10 days to the journey, delaying supply chains and pushing up costs.
The True Confidence was sailing from China to Jeddah and Aqaba with a cargo of steel products and trucks.
The vessel is owned by Liberia-registered True Confidence Shipping SA and operated by Greece-based Third January Maritime. There is no current connection with any US entity, the companies said.
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Iran’s Oil Minister Visits Oil Export Terminal as Israeli Strike Feared
A gas flare on an oil production platform in the Soroush oilfields is seen alongside an Iranian flag in Iran, July 25, 2005. Photo: Reuters / Raheb Homavandi / File.
Iran’s oil minister landed on Kharg Island, home to the country’s main export terminal, and held talks with a naval commander on Sunday, the oil ministry’s news website Shana reported, amid concern Israel could attack energy facilities.
An Israeli military spokesman said on Saturday that Israel would retaliate in response to last week’s missile attack by Tehran “when the time is right.”
US news website Axios cited Israeli officials as saying Iran’s oil facilities could be hit, while US President Joe Biden said on Friday that he did not think Israel had yet concluded how to respond.
Iran is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) with production of around 3.2 million barrels per day (bpd), or 3% of global output. Iranian oil exports have climbed this year to near multi-year highs of 1.7 million bpd despite US sanctions.
Most of its oil and gas wealth is located in the south of the country, where the Kharg Island terminal is situated and from which around 90% of Iranian oil exports are shipped.
Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad arrived on Sunday “to visit the oil facilities and meet operational staff located on Kharg Island,” Shana reported, adding that the oil terminal there has the capacity to store 23 million barrels of crude.
State media reported Paknejad met with Mohammad Hossein Bargahi, a Revolutionary Guards Navy commander, to check the security of Iran’s South Pars gas platforms and assess the effective actions of the Guards’ 4th Naval Region.
“The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy plays an important role in the security of oil and gas facilities,” Paknejad was quoted as saying.
China, which does not recognize US sanctions, is Tehran’s biggest oil customer and according to analysts imported 1.2 to 1.4 million barrels per day from Iran in the first half of 2024.
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Israel Says France’s Call for Halting Sales of Arms Used in Gaza is a ‘Disgrace’
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks as he meets with his Moldovan counterpart Maia Sandu (nos seen) at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, February 4, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Benoit Tessier
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit out at France’s President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday for saying that shipments of arms to Israel used in the conflict in Gaza should be stopped as part of a broader effort to find a political solution.
“Shame on them,” Netanyahu said of Macron and other Western leaders who have called for what he described as an arms embargo on Israel.
“Israel will win with or without their support,” he said in a pre-recorded video released by his office, adding that calling for an arms embargo was a disgrace.
Macron earlier told France Inter radio that the priority was “to get back to a political solution (and) that arms used to fight in Gaza are halted. France doesn’t ship any.”
“Our priority now is to avoid escalation. The Lebanese people must not in turn be sacrificed, Lebanon cannot become another Gaza,” he added.
France is not a major weapons provider for Israel, shipping military equipment worth 30 million euros ($33 million) last year, according to the defense ministry’s annual arms exports report.
Macron’s comments come as his Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot is on a four-day trip to the Middle East, wrapping up on Monday in Israel as Paris looks to play a role in reviving diplomatic efforts.
The post Israel Says France’s Call for Halting Sales of Arms Used in Gaza is a ‘Disgrace’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After a Year of War, Wounded Israeli Reservists Face Long Road to Recovery
Aaron Bours, 34, an Israeli reservist and marketing manager who was severely wounded fighting in Gaza, participates in physical therapy as he recovers at Sheba Medical Centre in Ramat Gan, Israel September 23, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Ten months after he was shot in the leg by a sniper in Gaza, Israeli reservist Aaron Bours is walking on crutches and hoping to make a full recovery from the wound he sustained trying to rescue his officer in an ambush.
“There were bullets all around me,” Bours said.
Three hours after he was shot, he was in surgery at Sheba Medical center near Tel Aviv where doctors were able to save his leg. Long months of intense rehabilitation followed.
Some 300,000 reservists were called up at the beginning of the war and many have served for months on multiple tours. Their experience, and the experience of the families they left, will color attitudes in Israel for years to come.
As of September, more than 10,000 wounded soldiers have been treated by the Rehabilitation Department of the Ministry of Defense since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7 that triggered Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip.
More than two thirds of those treated have been reservists who returned to their military units from civilian life.
Just over a third are dealing with limb injuries, with the rest dealing with a variety of internal and spinal injuries, as well as eye, ear and head wounds that underscore the intense combat in the ruins of Gaza.
Israel Dudkiewicz, the doctor who runs the rehabilitation center at Sheba Medical Center, said the hospital understood on Oct. 7 that they would need to expand to receive an influx of wounded patients. With around a quarter of its staff called as reserves themselves, the hospital added beds and opened three new wings to treat the injured.
“I can’t say it wasn’t challenging,” said Dudkiewicz. “But in the end we were able to provide service.”
But the impact of serious injuries on reservists, who will return to civilian life when the fighting is over, will be felt for many years.
Yosi Sochr, 34, was severely wounded when an explosive device was detonated remotely. Doctors are still not sure if he will ever regain full use of his left arm and shoulder, which were hit by a piece of shrapnel.
So far he can move his hand but not the rest of his arm.
“It was hard,” said the reservist in the hospital bed next to his wife. “I’m not a 20-year-old kid. I have a whole world around me – when I just disappear, it’s felt.”
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