The Houthis showed how they attacked a tanker that turned out to be carrying Russian oil. They explained their strike by the fact that the owner violated a certain ban on entering the ports of Palestine. The US Central Command reported that at the same time, the Houthis attacked a ship carrying vegetable oil from Russia to China.
Yahya Saria, a representative of the Yemeni Houthi Armed Forces, posted a video of Ansar Allah attacking the Chios Lion tanker in The Red Sea. The video shows how the boat, smeared with an editor, crashes into the left side of the tanker and an explosion occurs.
"The scene of the operation to attack the Chios Lion oil vessel, which was hit by a naval boat of the Yemeni Armed Forces for the fact that the owner company violates the ban on entering the ports of occupied Palestine," wrote in X Yahya Saria.
According to Equasis, Chios Lion is owned and operated by Greek companies — Crude Investment International and Stealth Maritime. At the same time, the tanker was transporting Russian oil. According to AIS vessels, Chios Lion received cargo at the end of June in Novorossiysk.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) reported that the Houthis attacked the tanker using an unmanned surface boat (USV).
"The USV caused damage, but MT Chios Lion did not seek help," CENTCOM said.
The US Central Command also reported that on that day the Houthis attacked another ship with Russian cargo.
"The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched several attacks on the MT Bentley I tanker carrying vegetable oil from Russia to China. The Iranian-backed Houthis used three surface ships in this attack: one unmanned surface vessel (USV) and two small boats. There have been no reports of damage or injuries," the US military said in a statement, noting that the ship belongs to an Israeli company.
Earlier, the Houthi Ansar Allah stated that they would not hit Russian and Chinese vessels. However, tankers carrying Russian oil are regularly attacked, although there have been no serious consequences for ships so far.
As reported by EADaily, since the fall of last year, the Houthis began attacking allegedly associated with Israel, the United States and UK courts in The Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for Israel's operation in the Gaza Strip. Most of the ships have changed their route and are now taking a longer route around Africa. At the same time, the grey fleet tankers that transport Russian oil continue to take the shortest route between Europe and Asia.