Bulker hit by Houthis called in port controlled by the militants earlier this month
Malta-flagged Cyclades sustained damage but crew and vessel are safe, according to UKMTO
Eastmed-managed Cyclades sustained damage from a Houthi attack, UKMTO said. The militants confirmed targeting the vessel — which called in the Houthi-controlled port of Saleef in mid-April — and also claimed to have hit an MSC boxship and US naval assets
A BULKER that called at Houthi-controlled Saleef port earlier this month was targeted by the militants on Monday.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the Malta-flagged, Eastmed-managed Cyclades (IMO: 9799616) “sustained damage,” but that the crew and vessel are safe and proceeding to the next port of call. The agency said the company security officer reported an explosion “in close proximity to a merchant vessel” about 54 nautical miles off Al Mukha, Yemen, at about 1000 hrs local time.
Lloyd’s List Intelligence data shows the 60,634 dwt Cyclades departed Yemen’s Saleef port on April 15, signalling its location as the Suez Canal. The vessel turned off its AIS transponder on April 17 when it was east of Port Sudan. As of the early hours of April 30 local time, it was still switched off.
The militants confirmed the attack on social media platform X, claiming the vessel was heading to the Israeli port of Eilat on April 21, “using misleading and deception by claiming that it was heading to another port”.
They also claimed to attack the “Israeli ship” MSC Orion (IMO: 9857157) in the Indian Ocean, and two “American warships in the Red Sea”.
Aside from the Cyclades attack, no other incidents were reported on Monday by UKMTO.
Mediterranean Shipping Co and Eastmed were approached for comment after hours.
The Cyclades incident marked the Houthis’ fifth targeting of a commercial vessel in a week.
The Iran-backed militants followed through on their warning from last week that they would escalate attacks in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean after a period of relative calm with no reported incidents for 17 days.
