Saudi entity denies its ship hit as Houthis claim attack on Greek tanker

DUBAI — A Saudi national shipping company denied on Tuesday that one of its tankers came under attack by the Houthis, hours after the militant group took responsibility for an attack on a Greek-owned tanker in the Red Sea.

Amjad, an oil tanker operated by Saudi national shipping company Bahri, came under attack on Monday, maritime sources told Al-Monitor. US Central Command also confirmed that Amjad came under attack in a statement on Monday.

“On the morning of Sep. 2, the Iranian-backed Houthis attacked two crude oil tankers, the Panama flagged/owned, Greek operated MV BLUE LAGOON I and the Saudi flagged, owned, and operated MV AMJAD, with two ballistic missiles and a one-way attack uncrewed aerial system, hitting both vessels,” US Centcom said on the social media platform X.

However, Bahri said in a statement on Tuesday that its vessel was not attacked in the Red Sea. The Saudi company did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.

"We unequivocally affirm that Amjad was not targeted and sustained no injuries or damage," the company said in a statement. "The vessel remains fully operational and is proceeding to her planned destination without interruption."

Amjad, a large crude carrier, loaded crude oil from Saudi Arabia's Ras Tanura terminal and was headed to the Egyptian port of Ain Sukhna for storage, sources said. It was fully loaded and carrying around 2 million barrels of crude oil.

A spokesperson for the Houthis claimed that the Yemeni armed group attacked Panamanian-flagged Blue Lagoon I off the coast of Hodeidah in the west. The Houthis struck the Greek-owned tanker in the Red Sea "with a number of appropriate missiles and a number of drones," the group's spokesperson Yahya Sare'e said on the X platform late on Monday.

The Houthi official said the ship was targeted because it violated "the decision to ban entry to the ports of occupied Palestine," and warned all shipping companies that continue to engage with Israel or allowed their vessels to call at one of the country's ports that they "would be targeted in the declared area of naval operation, regardless of their destination."

Sare'e said the Houthi operation would continue until the Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip is over and the siege on the enclave is lifted. The Houthis, who are an Iran-backed armed group controlling most of Yemen, joined the Israel-Hamas conflict Oct. 30, attacking ships and transiting one of the world's most critical chokepoints for oil.

Sare'e did not mention the second tanker that was said to have come under attack on Monday. 

Vulnerable transit

Blue Lagoon I, which was struck by the Houthis loaded at the Russian port of Ust-Luga and headed to the Emirati port of Fujairah carrying fuel oil with 88% draft, a source said. The Suezmax tanker was "near full load," carrying around 850,000 to 1 million barrels per day of fuel oil, the source added.

It is owned by Sea Trade Marine SA, which has a fleet of 27 ships, of which 16 are oil tankers.

The attacks in the Red Sea are the latest targeting tankers transiting one of the world's most critical chokepoints of oil.

On Aug. 23, the Houthis attacked the Greek-flagged oil tanker Sounion, which was carrying 150,000 tons of crude from the southern Iraqi port city of Basra.

Due to their geographical proximity to Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the Houthis have close access to attack vessels transiting the passageway, through which 10% of the world's seaborne oil trade flows.

Houthi spokesperson Mohammed Abdulsalam said Aug. 29 that the group planned to tow the tanker they set ablaze to safety, as concerns grew about maritime and environmental damage in the Red Sea.