US, GCC condemn Houthi hijacking of UAE-flagged vessel off the coast of Yemen

The United States and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have condemned the Houthi hijacking of a UAE-flagged vessel off the coast of Yemen. It is pertinent to mention that Yemen’s Houthi fighters seized the UAE vessel in the Red Sea, claiming it carried “military supplies” after the Saudi-led coalition accused the armed group of “piracy”. The vessel “entered Yemeni waters without authorisation” off the coast of Hodeidah and was carrying out “hostile acts”, the Houthi military spokesman Yahia Saree said on Twitter on Monday.

According to The National, the GCC, while condemning the hijacking, said that it supported UAE and any response to the hijacking, which took place near the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah. Separately, the US also condemned the hijacking. "We urge the Houthis to immediately release the ship and crew unharmed and to cease all violence that sets back the political process to end the war in Yemen," State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday.

Houthi rebels seize ship in Red Sea 

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to mention that the first word of hijacking of the cargo ship, the Rawabi, came from the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations, which only said an attack targeted an unnamed vessel around midnight. Later the MaritimeTraffic.com revealed that the coordinates the UK officials provided corresponded to the UAE-flagged landing craft, which had not given its location via satellite-tracking data for hours. Hours later, a statement from the Saudi-led coalition acknowledged the attack, saying the Houthis had committed an act of “armed piracy” involving the vessel. 

Houthi rebels even aired footage of the UAE ship they seized. The video of the ship shown on the Houthis' Al-Masirah satellite news channel showed military-style inflatable rafts, trucks and other vehicles on the vessel, a landing craft that lowers a ramp to allow equipment to roll on and off. One brief clip also showed what appeared to be a collection of rifles inside a container.

"It is completely obvious today that the information that this ship was carrying a civilian field hospital is not correct," said Yahia Sarei, a Houthi military spokesman. "This is clearly military equipment."

(With inputs from AP)