IRAN-backed Houthis targeted a Panama-flagged tanker shipping Russian oil in their 28th attack on commercial shipping and their first since the US and UK military strikes in Yemen.

A missile was fired at the tanker Khalissa (IMO: 9388780), and landed within 400 to 500 metres of the ship, laden with Russian oil that it loaded at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga in mid-December.

The UKMTO reported the attack happened at 1500 hrs GMT on Friday and said that the vessel was also followed by three small craft around 80 nautical miles southeast of Aden.

While the office did not name Khalissa, maritime security sources told Lloyd’s List that radio chatter heard by armed guards on board a nearby ship were able to identify the vessel.

A spokesman for the UK Ministry of Defence said it could not confirm or deny the vessel’s identity.

The UKMTO issued a second warning two hours after reporting the near-miss on Khalissa, saying other ships transiting the area in the Gulf of Aden reported being followed by boats, one for more than an hour.

Khalissa is one of the 560-plus anonymously owned vessels in the Lloyd’s List dark fleet list* and deployed to exclusively ship sanctioned Russian oil. Khalissa was sold by UK-owned Union Maritime in August.

This is not the first time the Houthis have attacked a ship laden with Russian oil that is part of the Lloyd’s List dark fleet.

On December 23, Gabon-flagged suezmax Sai Baba (IMO: 9321691) was struck by a one-way drone, according to US Central Command but was not damaged. Sai Baba was previously owned by Euronav until its sale in November 2022.

The attack comes amid continued instability as shipowners and charterers weigh options to continue with transits through the Red Sea.

Shipowners said yesterday that charterers of tankers bound for Europe via the Suez had told them to stop at the deviation point between turning towards Suez and Cape of Good Hope

Maritime security companies, Intertanko, and the Singapore Ship Registry also advised pausing transit.

Many vessels with Western commercial ties now appear unwilling to use the trade artery for the moment even as some vessels are still sailing through the danger zone.

On Friday (1200 hrs GMT), Lloyd’s List reported that 25 ships (over 10,00 dwt) had reversed or changed course, but about 130 were seen sailing through Bab el Mandeb Strait, or heading to Red Sea via Gulf of Aden.

Pre-strike, Red Sea vessel transits for ships over 10,000 dwt were down 9% week on week and 26% year on year, reflecting the exodus of the largest containerships which have chosen to divert.

Risk appetite for transits is now being reassessed hour by hour, from the previously day-by-day considerations, with the Red Sea only one drone or missile strike away from a further escalation in military intervention.

* Lloyd’s List defines a tanker as part of the dark fleet if it is aged 15 years or over, anonymously owned and/or has a corporate structure designed to obfuscate beneficial ownership discovery, solely deployed in sanctioned oil trades, and engaged in one or more of the deceptive shipping practices outlined by US State Department guidance issued in May 2020. The figures exclude tankers tracked to government-controlled shipping entities such as Russia’s Sovcomflot, or Iran’s National Iranian Tanker Co, and those already sanctioned. Download our explainer on the different risk profiles of the dark fleet here.

Lloyd’s List Intelligence Seasearcher subscribers can add the Lloyd’s List dark fleet to their watchlists here