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Tanker hit in Red Sea
Iran-backed Houthi forces announced Tuesday evening that they targeted the Saudi oil tanker NCC GHAZAL, accusing it of violating the naval blockade imposed on the Kingdom.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said: "The Yemeni armed forces carried out a military operation against the Saudi oil tanker after it ignored warning calls."
Saree added that the vessel was struck with several ballistic missiles and forced to retreat, while he stressed that Houthi forces would continue enforcing the naval ban on Saudi Arabia under a "blockade for blockade" framework.
Islam Times reported that Sari' said the targeting came after the Saudi vessel refused warnings and was carried out "with ballistic missiles, which forced it to retreat."
Claims, warnings, and shipping
gCaptain said the Houthis claimed a fourth attack on a Saudi-linked tanker as the Red Sea blockade intensified, and it described the targeting of the Saudi-flagged chemical/products tanker NCC GHAZAL with multiple ballistic missiles.
In a statement carried by Houthi-affiliated media, the group’s military spokesman said: "it was forced to retreat and return by the grace of God," and gCaptain said the claim coincided with a UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) warning.
UKMTO reported that the master of an unidentified tanker heard an explosion while transiting the southern Red Sea near Jizan, Saudi Arabia, and that the crew and vessel were safe with no environmental damage reported.
gCaptain also said Equasis records list NCC GHAZAL as a Saudi-flagged 49,990-deadweight-ton tanker built in 2014, managed by Bahri Ship Management DMCC and owned by National Chemical Carriers Co.
Escalation and retaliation stakes
Tehran Times framed the tanker attack within a broader pattern of Yemeni operations, saying Yemeni Armed Forces announced a military operation targeting sensitive sites and facilities linked to the supply and transport of crude oil from eastern Saudi Arabia to the city of Yanbu using several drones.
It also cited a Yemeni response to Saudi drones violating Yemeni airspace and said the Yemeni forces targeted three more Saudi oil tankers in line with Yemen’s maritime blockade in the Bab al-Mandab Strait (for Saudi ships only).
Tehran Times added that a source revealed to regional media that 16 Saudi vessels had been forced to turn back and were denied passage between last Monday and Sunday (July 20-July 26), and it said Saudi Arabia initiated the latest round of fighting by bombing Sanaa International Airport.
Palestine Chronicle similarly said Yemen’s Ansarallah announced a drone operation targeting "a number of sensitive targets and points related to the supply and transport of crude oil" and described it as a response to repeated Saudi drone incursions into Yemeni airspace.
