MV True Confidence

Last updated

MV True Confidence
History
Name
  • True Confidence
  • Teizan (2011)
OwnerTrue Confidence Shipping S.A. [1]
OperatorThird January Maritime Ltd [1]
Port of registryFlag of Barbados.svg  Barbados
Builder Oshima Shipbuilding
Completed2011
Identification
FateStruck by a Houthi anti-ship missile on 6 March 2024
General characteristics
Class and type Bulk carrier
Tonnage29,104  GT
Length183 m (600 ft 5 in)
Beam32 m (105 ft 0 in)
Crew20

MV True Confidence is a Barbados-flagged bulk carrier operated by Third January Maritime a Greek company and owned by True Confidence Shipping a Liberian shipping company. [2] [3] The vessel was attacked on 6 March 2024, causing the first civilian casualties of Houthi attacks on merchant shipping during the Red Sea crisis. At least three crew members of a cargo ship transiting the Red Sea were killed by a missile attack launched by Houthi rebels. [4]

Contents

Attack

During the Red Sea crisis on 6 March 2024, at around 11:30 a.m. AST, the True Confidence was struck by a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile 54 nautical miles (100 km; 62 mi) southwest of Aden, Yemen after individuals claiming to be the Yemeni Navy hailed the vessel over radio for approximately 30 minutes and ordered her to alter her course. [5]

United States Central Command imagery shows significant damage to the aft port quarter of the crew spaces below the level of the deck cargo. This indicates that the ship had indeed turned around and was on a south east course when the missiles struck at around 02:00UTC, two hours after the initial VHF radio contact was reported to the Indian Navy destroyer INS Kolkata. The attack caused significant damage to the ship, and her crew members abandoned the vessel shortly after. A fire also broke out in the pilothouse. [6] Houthis stated that the attack came after the vessel rejected warning messages issued by them. [7] [8] The attack resulted in the first civilian casualties aboard merchant vessels in the Red Sea crisis, killing three crewmembers and injuring four others, including three of which who were in critical condition, according to United States Central Command. [9] [10] The vessel had a crew of 20 at the time of the attack, and an additional three armed guards. The crew was made up of 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese and one Indian, and the armed guards were made of up two Sri Lankans and one Nepali. Among the deaths were two Filipinos and one Vietnamese national. [11]

The extent of the damage to the ship is unclear. The vessel's crew deployed lifeboats before abandoning her, and were eventually evacuated to Djibouti. [12] Both the United States Navy warship USS Philippine Sea and INS Kolkata were deployed to assist in rescue efforts. [13] [6] [14]

The vessel was holding a cargo of steel products and trucks at the time of the attack, and had been attempting to deliver them from Lianyungang, China to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and Aqaba, Jordan. [15] [16]

The Houthis claimed that the vessel was American-owned, however a spokesman for the ship's owners rejected the claim, saying it had no relation with American entities. [15] The vessel's owners, the company True Confidence Shipping, is registered in Liberia, and she is operated by the Greece-based organization Third January Maritime. Both firms confirmed that they were unrelated to the United States. However, the vessel was previously owned by the Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management. [17]

Reactions

Related Research Articles

USS <i>Dwight D. Eisenhower</i> US Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently in service with the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1977, the ship is the second of ten Nimitz-class aircraft carriers currently in service, and is the first ship named after the 34th President of the United States and General of the Army, Dwight D. Eisenhower. The vessel was initially named simply as USS Eisenhower, much like the lead ship of the class, Nimitz, but the name was changed to its present form on 25 May 1970. The carrier, like all others of her class, was constructed at Newport News Shipbuilding Company in Virginia, with the same design as the lead ship, although the ship has been overhauled twice to bring her up to the standards of those constructed more recently.

USS <i>Philippine Sea</i> (CG-58) Ticonderoga-class cruiser

USS Philippine Sea (CG-58) is a Flight II Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser on active service in the United States Navy. She is named for the Battle of the Philippine Sea during World War II and is the second ship to bear the name. She has completed multiple deployments as part of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2001 to 2014.

USS <i>Carney</i> Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

USS Carney (DDG-64) is the 14th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. The guided-missile destroyer is the first to be named after Admiral Robert Carney, who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower administration.

USS <i>Mason</i> (DDG-87) American guided missile destroyer

USS Mason (DDG-87) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named in honor of the Black crewmembers who served on board USS Mason (DE-529) during the period of racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.

INS <i>Kolkata</i> Destroyer in the Indian Navy

INS Kolkata is the lead ship of the Kolkata-class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. Named after the Indian city of Kolkata, she was constructed at Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL) and was handed over to the navy on 10 July 2014 after completing her sea trials. The ship was officially commissioned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a ceremony held on 16 August 2014.

HMS <i>Diamond</i> (D34) Royal Navy destroyer

HMS Diamond is the third ship of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence guided missile destroyers built for the Royal Navy. She was launched in 2007, and completed her contractor's sea trials and arrived at her base port in 2010. Diamond formally entered service in 2011.

USS <i>Gravely</i> Arleigh Burke-class destroyer

USS Gravely (DDG-107) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named after Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely Jr. Commissioned in 2010, she has been on several overseas deployments.

An anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is a military ballistic missile system designed to hit a warship at sea.

The MV Iceberg 1 is a Panama-flagged roll-on/roll-off cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates on March 29, 2010. It was the longest-held hijacked ship until the Puntland Maritime forces released it and 22 crew members on 23 December 2012.

INS <i>Visakhapatnam</i> (D66) Lead ship of the Visakhapatnam-class of stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy

INS Visakhapatnam is the lead ship and the first of the Visakhapatnam-class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. The ship, commissioned on 21 November 2021, is one of the largest destroyers in service with the Indian Navy.

Events in the year 2023 in Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Sea crisis</span> Houthi involvement in the Israel–Hamas war

The Red Sea crisis began on 19 October 2023, when the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen launched missiles and armed drones at Israel, demanding an end to the invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have since seized and launched aerial attacks against merchant and naval vessels in the Red Sea, drawing attacks on missile sites and other targets by U.S. and allied forces. The crisis is linked to the Israel–Hamas war, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict, the Iran–United States proxy conflict, and the Yemeni Crisis.

<i>Galaxy Leader</i> Ship built in 2002

Galaxy Leader is a roll-on/roll-off vehicle carrier built in 2002 at Stocznia Gdynia in Gdynia, Poland. It is owned by Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen and Ray Shipping, the latter a company partly owned by Israeli businessman Abraham Ungar.

Events in the year 2024 in Yemen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Prosperity Guardian</span> International military operation to protect Red Sea shipping

Operation Prosperity Guardian is a United States-led military operation by a multinational coalition formed in December 2023 to respond to Houthi-led attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

On 30 December 2023, Houthi forces in the Gulf of Aden attacked the Maersk commercial vessel Maersk Hangzhou. Early the next day, Houthis again attacked the Maersk Hangzhou, attempting to board the freighter. The Maersk Hangzhou made a distress signal, to which U.S. Navy forces of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and destroyer USS Gravely responded. The U.S., along with Maersk security personnel aboard the ship, repelled the attack. The U.S. sank three Houthi vessels, killing ten Houthis. Maersk announced a 48-hour pause on shipping through the Red Sea following the incident.

These are timelines of the Red Sea crisis, which began on 19 October 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2024 missile strikes in Yemen</span> Military strikes conducted by the US and UK against Yemeni Houthis

Since 12 January 2024, the United States and the United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, have launched a series of cruise missile and airstrikes, codenamed Operation Poseidon Archer, against the Houthi movement in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis had previously declared that their attacks are in support of Palestinians during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war; Houthi attacks on shipping were condemned by the United Nations Security Council the day before the initial strike.

On 26 January 2024, during the Red Sea crisis, the fuel tanker Marlin Luanda was struck by an anti-ship missile fired by Houthi forces.

MV <i>Rubymar</i> Belize-flagged bulk carrier

MV Rubymar was a Belize-flagged Handymax-size bulk carrier cargo ship completed in 1997. She previously sailed under the names Ken Shin from 1997, Chatham Island from 2009, and Ikaria Island from 2020, before being renamed Rubymar. On 18 February 2024, the ship was struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile during the Red Sea crisis while carrying a cargo of fertilizer. After being adrift for weeks, the ship sank on 2 March as a result of the strike, becoming the first vessel lost due to a Houthi attack during the crisis.

References

  1. 1 2 "Three killed in Houthi missile attack on cargo ship - US military". BBC . 6 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  2. "TRUE CONFIDENCE, Bulk Carrier - Details and current position - IMO 9460784". Vessel Finder. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  3. "TRUE CONFIDENCE". MaritimeTraffic. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  4. https://www.france24.com/es/medio-oriente/20240306-ataque-de-los-hut%C3%ADes-contra-un-buque-mercante-en-el-mar-rojo-deja-primeros-civiles-muertos
  5. Iordache, Ruxandra (7 March 2024). "Three dead in first fatal Houthi attack in the Red Sea". CNBC . Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  6. 1 2 "3 Killed, 4 Hurt in Houthi Strike on Commercial Ship". Voice of America . Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  7. Wintour, Patrick (6 March 2024). "Three sailors dead after Houthis strike ship in Gulf of Aden, US says". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  8. Bertrand, Natasha (6 March 2024). "Crew members killed for first time in Houthi attack on commercial ship in Red Sea, US official says". CNN . Archived from the original on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  9. Bigg, Matthew Mpoke; Gupta, Gaya (6 March 2024). "'At least 2 innocent sailors have died,' the British Embassy in Yemen says". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  10. "Houthi strike kills 3 on international cargo carrier as group continues shipping lane attacks: US". ABC News . Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  11. "Analysis: First fatal attack on shipping by Yemen's Houthi rebels escalates risk for reeling Mideast". Associated Press . 7 March 2024. Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  12. "2 Filipino, 1 Vietnamese sailor killed in first fatal Houthi attack on merchant ship". The Times of Israel . 7 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  13. "White House calls on world leaders to help stop 'reckless' Houthi attacks after civilian sailors killed". FOX News . Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  14. "Watch: Indian Navy Warship Rescues 21 From Ship Hit By Houthi Missile". NDTV . Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  15. 1 2 "Three killed in Houthi missile attack on cargo ship - US military". BBC . 6 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  16. Wright, Robert (7 March 2024). "Three killed in Houthi attack on cargo ship off Yemeni coast". Financial Times . Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  17. "Houthi attack kills three sailors in group's first fatal strike on shipping". Al Jazeera Media Network . Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
  18. "Yemen: Statement by the Spokesperson on Houthis deadly attack against a vessel in the Gulf of Aden". EEAS. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  19. "Red Sea - Lethal attack by the Houthis on the commercial vessel True Confidence". France Diplomacy - Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. 6 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  20. "Israel condemns Houthi strike; condoles with PH over fatalities". Philippine News Agency. 12 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  21. "Japan condemns the Houthi's attack on "True Confidence" vessel". Arab News Japan. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  22. "PH 'greatly distressed' by Houthi strike on ship that killed 2 Pinoys". Philippine News Agency. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  23. "Security Council Press Statement on Situation in Red Sea and Baab al-Mandab". press.un.org. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  24. "Vietnam condemns Houthis' deadly attack". NHK WORLD. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  25. "STC Presidium Condemns Houthi Terrorist Attack on the Ship "True Confidence" and Underscores Firm International Action to Protect Maritime Navigation". Southern Transitional Council. Retrieved 21 March 2024.