After an attack on a Greek-owned coal ship, Benoit Faucon of The Wall Street Journal reports that analysts say it appears to be the first time the Houthi rebel group has successfully used a sea drone. He writes:
Crew members of a Greek-owned coal vessel were forced to abandon ship after Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched an attack using a remote-controlled sea drone, according to the U.S. military.
Analysts said it appeared to be the first time the group has successfully used such a device, marking a way for the Iran-backed group to evade U.S.-led efforts to thwart missiles and aerial drones it has been using to attack vessels in the Red Sea. […]
Instead of bringing weapons directly from Iran, Yemeni rebels have found a new route through the Eastern African nation of Djibouti, where arms arriving from Iranian ports are transferred to civilian ships, these people said. The Houthis are also using Lebanon as a hub to purchase spare drone parts from China, they said.
Read more here.
