The tanker Swan Atlantic was attacked this Monday while sailing in the Red Sea, announced its owner, the Norwegian Inventor Chemical Tankers, after the British Navy alerted of two new incidents near the Bab al Mandeb Strait.
“The ship was hit by an object. We contacted all the people who needed to be contacted. So far we have no information or photographs about the damage,” CEO Oystein Elgan told the Norwegian portal E24.
“There are no injuries on board,” he said, adding that there were 22 crew members and three security guards on board the tanker.
Egan also confirmed that the United States Navy ship USS Carney responded to the Swan Atlantic’s distress call.
The Norwegian Shipping Association has urged Norwegian and international authorities to find a solution to ensure the safety of civilian ships in the Red Sea.
“Today’s attack [segunda-feira] further underlines the seriousness of the situation,” said Harald Solberg, quoted by E24.
“The attacks occur in one of the most important civil navigation arteries in the world,” he added.
Last Friday, the shipping groups Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd announced the temporary suspension of passage through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, after several ships were attacked in recent days off the coast of Yemen.
Other business groups did the same and adhered to the temporary suspension without specifying a date for the resumption of navigation through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea.
Yemen’s Houthi forces have launched several missile and drone attacks against southern Israel in the past two months, as well as against Israeli-flagged ships or ships owned by Israeli companies in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Source: TSF
