Maritime Security News

British security firm Ambrey said on Thursday a Greek-owned bulk carrier was allegedly targeted by Yemen's Houthis while travelling northbound in the Red Sea.The ship's transmissions stopped 118 nautical miles east of Massawa, Eritrea when it was underway from Mormugao, India, with its destination as Suez, Egypt, the firm said in a statement that did not name the ship."The alleged 'targeting' of the vessel was aligned to the stated Houthi intent," Ambrey said. "The Houthi language did not indicate they were claiming to have damaged the vessel.

Russia plans to send combat vessels into the Caribbean region this summer as part of naval exercises that will likely include port calls in Cuba and possibly stops in Venezuela, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.The United States does not see the move involving a relatively small number of vessels and planes as threatening, but the U.S. Navy will monitor the exercises, the official told a small group of reporters.Tensions between the United States and Russia have increased since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The official said Russian naval activity had ratcheted up because of U.S.

Closer international cooperation between naval missions in the Red Sea has reduced the number of attacks by Yemen’s Houthis over the past week, Greek Shipping Minister Christos Stylianides told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.Greece is the home of the headquarters of the European Union's naval operation in the Red Sea, which is dubbed "Aspides" and in Greek means "Shields"."For us, it is a satisfaction that during the past week we see a notable reduction in the number and intensity of attacks.

The Philippine military on Tuesday rejected Chinese allegations that troops stationed on a warship grounded on a disputed South China Sea shoal had pointed guns at its coast guard, insisting its personnel maintained professional conduct.Philippine troops are governed by rules of engagement and acted with the highest level of professionalism, military spokesperson Francel Margareth Padilla told a press conference.Chinese state media said on Sunday personnel on a Philippine ship pointed guns at China's coast guard last month at the Second Thomas Shoal…

U.S. forces on Saturday destroyed one Iran-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial system in the southern Red Sea and saw two others crash into Red Sea, U.S. Central Command said.The Central Command forces also destroyed two Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles fired in direction of the USS Gravely, it said. No injuries or damage were reported by U.S., coalition or commercial ships, it said.(Reuters - Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by William Mallard)

Chinese state media said on Sunday that personnel on a Philippine ship pointed guns at China's Coast Guard in disputed waters of the South China Sea last month.At least two personnel on the Philippine vessel near the Second Thomas Shoal were carrying guns on deck, pointing them in the direction of China's Coast Guard, CCTV said in a social media post.An accompanying 29-second video appeared to show a masked man momentarily holding up a blurred black object that resembled a rifle.China claims almost the entire South China Sea…

Yemen's Houthis launched a missile attack in the direction of the U.S. aircraft carrier Eisenhower in the Red Sea in response to U.S. and British strikes on Yemen, the Iranian-backed group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree said on Friday.A U.S. defense official told Reuters they were not aware of any attack on the Eisenhower.Six U.S. and British strikes have killed 16 people and wounded 41, including civilians, Saree said in a televised statement.Strikes on the province of Hodeidah targetedthe port of Salif…

Ukraine's military said on Thursday it had damaged two ferries in Russian-held Crimea and halted their operations between the peninsula and the Russian mainland.A Russia-appointed official in Crimea, Nikolai Lukashenko, had earlier acknowledged the strike in the port of Kerch, saying debris from downed Ukrainian missiles had damaged the vessels and operations on the ferry line had been suspended.Ukraine's General Staff, in a statement on the Telegram messaging app, said the assault was carried out by Western-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS)."As a result of the strike…

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet with his Chinese counterpart on Friday for the first time since 2022 to discuss contentious issues such as Taiwan and the South China Sea, but also the importance of communicating, Pentagon officials said.U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have sought to manage tensions, and in November the two leaders agreed to resume direct military talks.Since then the two sides' militaries have held discussions, but Austin's…

Yemen's Houthis will continue their military operations and escalate them "in quality and quantity" in support of Palestinians in Israel's war in Gaza, the Iran-backed group's leader Abdulmalik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.The group have been attacking ships in the Red Sea region since November, forcing shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.

Yemen's Houthis launched attacks on six ships in three different seas, the Iran-backed group said on Wednesday, including the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Laax that was damaged after reporting a missile strike off the Yemeni coast.Security and shipping sources confirmed the Houthis hit the Laax in a barrage of attacks on Tuesday. In a televised speech, the group also said it targeted the Morea and Sealady in the Red Sea, the Alba and Maersk Hartford in the Arabian Sea…

A bulk carrier already taking on water after a Houthi missile attack off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday has reported further damage from a second strike, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said on Tuesday.Maritime security and shipping sources earlier in day identified vessel as the Marshall Islands-flagged Laax.Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks in the Red Sea region since November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians. They since have expanded to the Indian Ocean.The Houthis have sunk one ship…

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said on Monday they launched attacks on three ships in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, and two U.S. destroyers in the Red Sea.The group, which describes its attacks as acts of solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war in Gaza, said the ships were the Larego Desert and the MSC Mechela in the Indian Ocean, and the Minerva Lisa in the Red Sea. It did not name the destroyers.There was no immediate confirmation from shipping companies or the U.S. military of any attacks in those areas.The Houthis' military spokesperson…

Member states of the IMO have called for an immediate end to ongoing attacks on ships and seafarers transiting through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.In a resolution adopted in London, IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee condemned the attacks as “illegal and unjustifiable”, posing a direct threat to the freedom of navigation in one of the world's most critical waterways, while causing major disruptions to regional and global trade.It is the first resolution to be adopted by IMO member states on this issue since the Houthis seized the MV Galaxy Leader in November 2023.

Yemen's Houthis launched attacks on three ships in the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Arabian Sea, the Iran-aligned group said on Friday, although the manager of the ship allegedly attacked in the Mediterranean said there was no sign of such an incident.The reported attacks are the latest in a months-long campaign of Houthi strikes against regional shipping in what the group says is solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in the Gaza war.The Houthis' military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech that Houthi forces had targeted the Yannis ship in the Red Sea…

China ended two days of war games around Taiwan in which it simulated attacks with bombers and practiced boarding ships, exercises that Taiwan condemned as "blatant provocation" on Saturday, detailing a surge of Chinese warplanes and warships.Chinese state television's military channel said late on Friday the drills had concluded. A commentary in the official People's Liberation Army Daily said they had lasted for two days from Thursday to Friday, as previously announced.China's defence ministry did not answer calls seeking comment on Saturday.China…

North Korea's defence ministry accused the United States and South Korea of ramping up reconnaissance activities around the inter-Korean border, warning that it will act if its sovereignty and security is violated, state media KCNA said on Sunday.North Korea's vice defence minister Kim Gang Il said the U.S. had flown at least 16 of its RC-135 and U-2S strategic reconnaissance planes and RQ-4B drone over the Korean peninsula between May 13 and 24.He also accused South Korea's navy…

The European Union's anti-piracy force in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea said on Friday the Liberian-flagged merchant vessel Basilisk had been freed from suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia and its 17 crew members were safe.The ship was attacked by suspected pirates on Thursday around 380 nautical miles east of Somalia's capital Mogadishu while sailing north, the EU Naval Force said in a statement.The EU said its forces boarded the Basilisk from a helicopter on Thursday night, having sent one of its Operation Atalanta warships to respond earlier in the day.A male crew member who was injur

China's military carried out a second day of war games around Taiwan on Friday, with drills to test their ability to "seize power" and control key areas, exercises it has said were launched to punish Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te.The two days of drills in the Taiwan Strait and around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands near the Chinese coast started just three days after Lai took office. Taiwan has condemned China's actions.China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and denounces Lai as a "separatist"…

A possible pirate attack off the coast of Somalia has been confirmed by Operation ATALANTA, the European Union's anti-piracy force in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.The confirmation comes after the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Thursday that it received a report of a merchant vessel being boarded 420 nautical miles southeast of Merca, Somalia. UKMTO's statement said an unknown number of unauthorized people from two small craft were reported to have…

The leader of Yemen's Houthis, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said on Thursday that one of their operations this week targeted the Mediterranean Sea.Earlier this month, al-Houthi had said that all ships heading to Israeli ports would be targeted by the Iran-backed group, not just those in the Red Sea region which it has targeted before.No incident from the area was reported this week, and Reuters could not independently verify the contents of the statement.(Reuters - Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Yomna Ehab; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Thursday that it had received a report of a merchant vessel being boarded 420 nautical miles southeast of Merca, Somalia.UKMTO said in a statement that an unknown number of unauthorized people from two small craft were reported to have boarded the vessel.Between 2008 and 2018, Somali pirates caused havoc in the waters off the country's long coastline. They had been dormant until late last year when pirate activity started to pick up again.(Reuters - Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Alexander Winning)

Australia and Indonesia have completed a coordinated international maritime security operation to detect, deter and combat illegal activities at sea.Between May 8 and 17, Australian and Indonesian agencies undertook Operation GANNET within the Timor Sea Area of Operations, which includes waters around Ashmore Island.The operation comprised vessels, aircraft and personnel from the Indonesian Maritime Security Agency (BAKAMLA), Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Republic of Indonesia (PSDKP)…