| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | Marshall Islands |
| Builder | New Times Shipyard, China |
| Completed | 2018 |
| Identification | |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | |
| Length | 249.9 m (819 ft 11 in) |
| Beam | 44 m (144 ft 4 in) |
| Draft | 14.95 m (49 ft 1 in) |
On 26 January 2024, during theRed Sea crisis, the fuel tankerMarlin Luanda was struck by an anti-ship missile fired byHouthi forces.
TheMarlin Luanda was anoil tanker built in 2018 at theNew Times Shipyards inTaizhou, China. The ship was built as theMarshall Islands-registeredNavig8 Pride LHJ for Ocean Yi Shipping of Hong Kong and managed by Navig8 Asia Pte Ltd. In February 2022, the ship was sold to Polar 18 Ltd and renamedMarlin Luanda; it was operated by UK-basedOceonix Services, with ship management bySuntech Maritime of Singapore. When attacked, the tanker was undercharter toTrafigura, acommodity trading company, also based in Singapore.[1][2][3][4]
After the incident, in April 2024, the ship was renamedBoccadasse, without change of ownership, management, or national register.[1]
Despite the instigation in November 2023 ofHouthiattacks on merchant ships, by January 2024 most oil tankers had continued traversing the Red Sea, with the significant exception ofQatarEnergy.[5][6]While sailing to Singapore from Egypt[7] the tanker, carrying Russiannaphtha purchased below theprice cap,[8] was struck by an anti-ship missile fired byHouthi rebels, as part of theRed Sea crisis. At the time it was approximately 110 kilometres (59 nmi; 68 mi) south-east ofAden.[9] The strike caused a fire in one of the ship's starboard cargo tanks, and the crew deployed firefighting equipment to combat it.[10][11] Early reports suggested the crew had abandoned the vessel, but this was later confirmed to be false.[12]
Following the strike, theUSS Carney set sail towards the stricken vessel; it was also targeted by a Houthi missile. According to an anonymous US official, this was the first time the Houthis had directly targeted a US military vessel since the crisis began.[13][dubious –discuss]
On 27 January,Trafigura released a statement saying that the crew were unharmed, and that they continued to battle the fire with the aid of military vessels.[14] Later that day, Trafigura announced that the fire had been put out with the assistance of Indian, American, and French vessels and that the ship was heading towards a safe port.[5][15] The USSCarney,French frigateAlsace and the Indian destroyerINS Visakhapatnam assisted. TenIndian Navy sailors with specialist fire fighting equipment came aboard, and fought the fire with theMarlin Luanda crew of 22 Indians and one Bangladeshi for six hours.[16]
The Houthis stated that the vessel was British and was targeted in response to "American-British aggression against our country".[4][15]
Trafigura announced that it was assessing the risk of further voyages through the Red Sea following the strikes, while the tankerFree Spirit carrying crude oil, avoided entering the Gulf of Aden shortly after the strike by reversing its track.[5][6] On 30 January 2024, the Houthis launched an unsuccessful attack on a second ship operated by Oceonix, the container shipKoi, chartered toCMA CGM.[17]
In July 2024 theInternational Maritime Organization decided to recognize the "extraordinary courage, determination and endurance demonstrated while coordinating firefighting and damage control efforts to combat the fire" by Captain Avhilash Rawat and the crew ofMarlin Luanda, with the IMO 2024 Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea.[18]
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