Three crew members have been killed in a Houthi missile strike on a cargo ship off southern Yemen, US officials say - the first deaths the group's attacks on merchant vessels have caused.
Related...
3 Red Sea data cables cut as Houthis launch more attacks in the vital waterway
apnews.com
... Three cables under the Red Sea that provide global internet and telecommunications have been cut as the waterway remains a target of Yemen's Houthi rebels, officials said Monday. Meanwhile, a Houthi missile attack set a ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden, but caused no injuries.
What cut the lines remains unclear. There has been concern about the cables being targeted in the Houthi campaign, which the rebels describe as an effort to pressure Israel to end its war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have denied attacking the lines, however. ...
- and -
Houthi-Sunk Ship Seen as Likely Cause of Severed Red Sea Cables
finance.yahoo.com
... he anchor of a cargo ship that was attacked by Houthi militants was the most likely cause of damage to three telecommunications cables in the Red Sea in late February, according to a subsea cable trade group that includes companies operating in the region.
"It's generally accepted that the Rubymar dropped an anchor when fired upon and as a result it damaged cables in proximity," said Ryan Wopschall, general manager of the International Cable Protection Committee, the group representing subsea cable operators.
The Rubymar, a Belize-flagged commercial ship loaded with 41,000 tons of fertilizer, was hit by ballistic missiles in mid-February off the west coast of Yemen. Days later, the cables were damaged in the same area. The crew abandoned the 172-meter-long ship after dropping one of its anchors, and the vessel drifted for almost two weeks through an area of the Red Sea that's densely populated with cables, before sinking on Saturday. ...
fwiw, the "data cables" mentioned in the articles above are somewhat critical Internet links.
Red Sea underwater cables 'cut' disrupting global internet traffic
www.middleeasteye.net
... Undersea cables in the Red Sea have been cut causing "significant" damage to global telecommunications networks, according to Hong Kong telecoms company HGC Global Communications.
The firm reported damage to four undersea cables that had disrupted a quarter of the traffic between Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
The company said in a statement that it is rerouting traffic to minimise disruption for customers and "extending assistance to affected businesses". ...
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