US Warship Frees Ship with Bulgarians and is Attacked by the Houthis

An American warship has responded to the distress call of the "Central Park" tanker seized by armed attackers off the coast of Yemen. This was announced by both American officials, quoted by "Reuters", and the company Zodiac Maritime in a statement to the media.

Hours later, however, US Central Command said that after the attackers were forced to surrender, ballistic missiles were fired at them from territory controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen. The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden nearly ten nautical miles from the ship.

The attack took place at 01:41 a.m. Bulgarian (02:41 a.m. local time).

The ship and its crew, among whom there are also Bulgarians, are out of danger. "We thank the coalition forces who responded quickly by protecting assets in the area and complying with international law," the statement said.

No details have been released so far on who is behind the attack, which came a week after Shiite Houthi rebels hijacked another ship with Bulgarians on board in the Red Sea, also linked to an Israeli citizen, and motivated their actions by Israel's war with the Islamist movement Hamas. According to information circulated yesterday in international agencies, "Central Park" was warned not to continue its course through the Red Sea.

In the Central Park announcement, the company referred to "pirates".

One of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters that the US destroyer "Mason" had responded to the tanker's distress call and that it had now been released. In the message of the central command this is confirmed.

"Mason" (USS Mason) is part of the aircraft carrier strike group "Dwight Eisenhower"