Houthi Attack Damages Shadow Fleet Tanker Carrying Russian Oil
Shortly after midnight local time May 18 reports began coming in that a tanker had been struck while heading south in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. They are indicating that there was a fire aboard and damage to the vessel but it received assistance and was proceeding to an unnamed port. U.S. Central Command is identifying the vessel as the Panama-flagged Wind (105,387 dwt) reporting that the crude oil tanker most recently docked in Russia and was bound for China. Databases reflect the vessel with registered owners in Cyprus and managed and operated from Greece. The ship transited the Suez Canal on May 12-13 and its last AIS signal from the midpoint in the Red Sea read “China for Orders” as its destination. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) initially reported the vessel’s position as 76 nautical miles northwest of Al Hudaydah, Yemen but in later reports amended the position to 98 miles south of Al Hudaydah. “The impact of the anti-ship ballistic missile caused flooding which resulted in the of loss propulsion and steering,” reports CENTCOM. “A coalition vessel immediately responded to the distress call…