When the Iran-backed Houthi militia launched an attack on a vessel off the coast of Yemen that killed three seafarers and injured several more on Wednesday, the Indian Navy deployed one of its warships to rescue the crew.
The Indian destroyer Kolkata reached the crew members from the True Confidence, the vessel that was hit in the Gulf of Aden, according to the Indian Navy’s social media account and videos it posted online. Some seafarers appear to have been picked up by helicopters from lifeboats and taken aboard the Kolkata, according to videos posted by the Indian Navy.
The crew, according to the Indian Navy, was evacuated to Djibouti, which lies on the east coast of Africa, across the narrow Bab el-Mandeb strait from Yemen’s coast. Djibouti’s port authority posted on social media pictures of the arrival of the crew, some with visible injuries.
The three sailors killed on Wednesday were the first fatalities from Houthi attacks since the group began targeting transiting ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis have said their campaign is an expression of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza under attack by Israel and retaliation for counterstrikes against them, which they label “American-British aggression.”
The Houthi attacks have recently grown more severe. Last week, the Rubymar, a British-owned commercial vessel attacked by the Houthis, became the first of their targets to sink.
The Houthi attacks threaten a fragile global economy still recovering from the pandemic and suffering disruptions from the war in Ukraine.
The Red Sea and Gulf of Aden serve as a major shipping route for India and dozens of other exporters. And the Suez Canal, which lies at the northwestern end of the Red Sea, handles some 12 percent of global trade. Many ships have also been rerouted to the Suez because the Panama Canal, another major access point for global trade, is able to handle fewer ships than usual because of low water levels caused by drought.
Egypt’s revenue from Suez Canal transits dropped by half after Houthi attacks began, contributing to the country’s worst economic crisis in decades.
There are also crucial communications cables that connect Asia to the West running through the Red Sea, some of which have recently suffered damage from an undetermined cause. The Houthis, who have fallen under suspicion, have denied responsibility, but concerns that the attacks could disrupt the global internet have grown.
The United States has created an international task force to protect commercial ships in the region and has with its allies, including Britain, carried out missile strikes on Houthi targets inside Yemen. Last month, the State Department designated the Houthis as a terrorist organization.
On Wednesday, the Treasury Department issued sanctions intended to disrupt the flow of money from Iran to the Houthis, and a spokesman for the State Department, Matthew Miller, said the United States would continue to work with its allies to deter further attacks. It was unclear what actions that might entail.
While India, which maintains friendly ties with Iran, has not joined the U.S.-led task force in the Red Sea, its navy has responded to several ships threatened by Houthi attacks in the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden. It has also increased its presence in the region by sending more warships there, according to The Wall Street Journal.
