The United Arab Emirates condemned in a letter to the United Nations’ Security Council (UNSC) the Houthis’ interception and hijacking of the UAE-flagged cargo ship ‘Rawabi’ in the Red Sea on 3 January.
The permanent representative of the UAE to the United Nations, Lana Nusseibeh, called for the immediate release of the ship and its crew, and expressed her country’s condemnation of the “illegal actions carried out by the Houthi militias.”
The UAE representative’s letter included details of the incident, calling on the UNSC to circulate the letter as one of the council’s documents.
Furthermore, the UAE said that the hijacking of the ship “is an act of piracy contrary to the basic provisions of international law. It poses a serious threat to the freedom and safety of navigation and international trade in the Red Sea and to regional security and stability.”
Nusseibeh added that the Rawabi cargo ship, which was being chartered by a Saudi company, was carrying equipment used in the Saudi field hospital on Socotra Island.
The ship’s crew consists of 11 people of different nationalities, including seven from India and one each from Ethiopia, Indonesia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.
The leadership of the Arab coalition forces in Yemen announced on 3 January that the Houthis hijacked an Emirati cargo ship near the port of Hodeidah on the coast of the Red Sea in Yemen.
The coalition’s leadership warned that what it described as “ports of departure harboring maritime piracy in Yemen would be legitimate military targets” if the hijacked Rawabi was not released.
The United States condemned the hijacking of the ship, calling the incident an interference to the freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and a threat to international trade and regional security.
