The fire on the British oil tanker Marlin Luanda in the Gulf of Aden was extinguished after six hours by the combined efforts of India, US, French Navy firefighting team. The fire was caused by a missile fired by Houthi rebels off Yemen's coast in the Red Sea.
According to the Navy, "Ten Indian Naval personnel with specialist firefighting equipment boarded the MV Marlin Luanda in the early hours of January 27. After six hours of combating the fire alongside the crew of the MV Marlin Luanda, the Indian Naval firefighting team effectively brought the fire under control."
Houthi missile hit British oil tanker Marlin Luanda on Friday night
The Indian Navy rushed guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam deployed in the Gulf of Aden for antipiracy operations to respond to a distress call from British oil tanker MV Marlin Luanda late on Friday night after it was struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile that caused a fire onboard the ship. The Indian Navy team helped fight the fire on board the tanker, which had 22 Indians and one Bangladeshi crew member onboard.
Marine security experts claimed two other vessels in the region were also attacked, but the missiles missed their targets; two missiles were reported to have exploded in the water. Both vessels and crew were reported safe and with no damage.
The Marlin Luanda attack is the third incident in a month
The attack on Marlin Luanda is the third such attack this month on merchant shipping in the busy Red Sea that connects Asia to Europe. The Marshall Island flagged crude oil tanker with a cargo of Russian naphtha and operated by commodities group Trafigura had set sail from Egypt to Singapore when it was attacked crossing the Red Sea. "The vessel is now sailing towards a safe harbour. The crew continues to monitor the vessel and cargo closely," said a Trafigura spokesperson.
"Indian Navy has stepped up vigilance and deployed additional guided missile destroyers, including INS Mormugao, INS Kochi, and INS Kolkata, to safeguard merchant ships traversing the Arabian Sea," said the Indian Navy spokesperson.
Yemen's Houthi rebels claim attack on ship
The US Central Command reported that the British oil tanker Marlin Luanda had come under a missile attack by Houthi rebels based in Yemen. "Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired one anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker M/V Marlin Luanda. USS Carney (DDG 64) and other coalition ships have responded and are rendering assistance. No injuries have been reported," said US CENTCOM.
Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed their naval forces had carried out an operation targeting what they described as the "British oil tanker Marlin Luanda" in the Gulf of Aden with "appropriate naval missiles, the strike was direct", the Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Sarea, said in a statement.
