UAE Foreign Ministry: Attack on UAE ship a violation of international charters

In a statement issued on Wednesday the ministry said the vessel was unarmed, had no military protection, and was carrying assistance, wounded Yemenis and passengers.

Wreckage of the aid ship Swift after it was attacked by Houthi rebels with a missile and small-arms fire in Bab Al Mandeb early on Saturday. Wam
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ABU DHABI // The attack on a UAE civilian ship by Houthi militia off the coast of Yemen is a clear violation of international charters and will have serious repercussions on the freedom of navigation in the area, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said.

On Saturday morning, the ship – owned by the UAE’s National Marine Dredging Company – was attacked as it navigated the Bab Al Mandeb Strait.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry said the vessel was unarmed, had no military protection, and was carrying humanitarian assistance, wounded Yemenis and passengers.

The ministry said Houthi-Saleh militias knew the ship was dedicated for humanitarian missions and had not conducted any military missions in Yemen.

“In more than a year of operating routine journeys to Aden, the civilian ship has carried thousands of tonnes of humanitarian assistance and more than 1,000 wounded people, along with their companions, in addition to large equipment for the electricity, water and health care sectors which had significantly eased the suffering of the residents of Aden through the restoration of the infrastructure in these vital sectors,” the ministry said.

The 24 civilian crew members on board consisted of six nationalities — 10 Indians, seven Ukrainians, four Egyptians, a Jordanian, a Filipino and Lithuanian.

On Wednesday crew members described their escape following the missile attack to The National. All who were injured are receiving medical treatment in the UAE.

Despite efforts by the Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General for Yemen to restart negotiations to settle the conflict, the attack showed that the Houthi-Saleh militias are undermining peace efforts, the ministry said.

The statement warned the rebels against undermining efforts to settle the conflict peacefully and said the militias’ tactics to break the will of the Yemeni people by military means did not consider the suffering of Yemeni civilians, particularly women and children.

The ministry called on the international community to condemn the Houthi militias’ latest attack which they said was a dangerous escalation of the conflict and violated international laws and charters.

Members of the Security Council on Wednesday strongly condemned the attack, saying that the threat to shipping around Bab Al Mandeb, a strategically important shipping passage, was being taken seriously.

They urged necessary steps be taken to de-escalate the situation and reiterated their support for the Special Envoy’s efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Yemen.

newsdesk@thenational.ae