UAE: Attack on Yemen-bound civilian ship clear violation of int'l charters

The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation has stressed that the civilian ship which was targeted by the Houthi and Saleh militias off the coast of Mocha, Yemen, was carrying assistance, wounded Yemenis and passengers, WAM news agency reported.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the ministry said that the ship, which is unarmed and has no military protection, is passing through the Bab al Mandab Strait like any other civilian and commercial ships. It has been conducting routine trips to Aden for one year and that all its crew members are civilians.

The statement said that the civilian ship is owned by the UAE National Marine Dredging Company and does not have any military capacity, a fact which is confirmed by the vessel’s inability to counter the attack it came under during an international sea voyage governed by the norms and charters that ensure the freedom of navigation in international waters.

The ministry went on to affirm that the attack on the civilian ship will have serious repercussions on the freedom of navigation if the Houthi-Saleh militias continue to pursue maritime piracy tactics and carry out attacks on civilian ships dedicated to transporting aid and injured people with the aim of exacerbating the suffering of the Yemeni people and using this as a card to play to make fake gains even at the expense of their compatriots.

The ministry's statement revealed that the crew of the ship comprises 24 civilians of six nationalities: 10 Indians, seven Ukrainians, four Egyptians, and three from Jordan, the Philippines and Lithuania.

''In more than a year of operating routine journeys to Aden, the civilian ship has carried some 100,000 food packages, and more than 1,000 wounded people, along with their companions, in addition to large equipment for the electricity, water and healthcare sectors which had significantly eased the suffering of the residents of Aden through the restoration of the infrastructure in these vital sectors,'' the statement explained.

The ministry stressed that the Houthi-Saleh militias know very well that the civilian ship was dedicated for humanitarian missions and that it had not conducted any military missions in Yemen, which affirms that these militias ignore all international norms and charters that were agreed upon for wars and international conflicts.

Source: MENA