US, French, Indian navies helped put out fire on tanker hit by Houthis — Pentagon

The US Central Command says the USS Carney, the French Navy Frigate FS Alsace and Indian Navy Frigate INS Visakhapatnam responded to a “major fire” aboard a tanker carrying a flammable chemical off Yemen earlier Saturday, helping the crew douse the dangerous blaze after they had “depleted their organic firefighting capability.”

The Marshall-Islands flagged Marlin Luanda burned for several hours after being hit by a missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. It was carrying Russian-produced naphtha.

“Thanks to this rapid response by the US, Indian and French navies, the fire is now extinguished,” CentCom says.

“There were no casualties in the attack, the ship remains seaworthy and has returned to its previous course,” it adds, confirming an earlier statement from Trafigura, a Singapore-based trading firm.

Yesterday, the Iranian-backed Houthis struck the Marshall Islands-flagged, Bermuda-owned M/V Marlin Luanda with an Anti-Ship Ballistic Missile (ASBM) in the Gulf of Aden. Marlin Luanda is transporting for commercial use a cargo of Naphtha, a highly flammable liquid hydrogen… pic.twitter.com/BHCCqMltiY

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 27, 2024

In its statement, the company said that “no further vessels operating on behalf of Trafigura are currently transiting the Gulf of Aden.”

The Indian Navy said the Marlin Luanda has 22 Indians and one Bangladeshi onboard.

It said a fire-fighting team of 10 Indian naval personnel battled the blaze for six hours along with the ship’s crew before bringing it under control.

According to CentCom, vessels from over 40 countries have been targeted by Houthi attacks, which have ostensibly been launched to show support for Gaza.

“These unlawful actions have nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza. Neither the vessel nor its crew have any affiliation to Israel,” it says.