The Indian Navy saved 21 crew members, one of whom was an Indian citizen, after a rocket hit the True Confidence, a bulk carrier owned by Liberians and flying the flag of Barbados, in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday. Thursday, the Navy said that the Indian Navy vessel INS Kolkata was sent to the Maritime Security Operation with its own helicopter and boats.
At least four people were hurt when Houthi rebels in Yemen shot a missile at a bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden. The US military said that three people were killed.
The Indian Navy wrote on X (which used to be Twitter): “Indian Navy’s quick response to any maritime incident in the Gulf of Aden.” The Barbados-flagged bulk carrier MV #TrueConfidence was on fire after a drone or rocket hit it on March 6, about 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden. The crew was seriously hurt, and they had to leave the ship.
“INS Kolkata was sent to do Maritime Security Operations. It got there at 16:45 and used its own helicopter and boats to save 21 crew members, including one Indian citizen.” Important medical care was given to the hurt crew. After that, the crew of #TrueConfidence was flown to Djibouti on March 6, PM,” they said.
The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, have been attacking commercial ships that pass through the important Red Sea trade route for months, but it looks like the deaths on Wednesday are the first deaths from an attack like this.
The Liberian-owned M/V True Confidence, which was flying the flag of Barbados, was hit by an anti-ship ballistic missile. The crew reported “three fatalities, at least four injuries, of which three are in critical condition, and significant damage to the ship,” according to a statement from the US Central Command (CENTCOM).
“The crew abandoned the ship, and coalition warships responded and are now assessing the situation,” it said, adding that this was the fifth time in two days that the Houthis had fired a ballistic missile at a ship.
The Department of Migrant Workers of the Philippine government said in a statement on Thursday that two of the crew members who died were Filipino and that two others were “severely injured.”
Yahya Saree, a spokeswoman for the Houthis in the military, wrote on social media that the True Confidence was hit by several missiles “after the ship’s crew ignored warning messages” from the Houthis.
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