Marshall Islands

It was 1.50 p.m., on January 16 when a 15-meter-long Houthi missile hit the Greek-owned ship Zografia off the coast of Yemen. Miraculously, no injuries were caused by the explosion and the Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship sailed to Perama in Greece for repairs.

Yemen's Houthi rebels fired two missiles at a Greek-owned ship bound for a port in Iran on Monday, causing minor damage but no injuries to its crew, authorities said.

Reports from British maritime security company Ambrey reveal that a Greek bulk carrier, flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, was targeted by two missiles in separate incidents in the Bab el Mandeb Strait. The vessel's crew reported being unharmed, with the ship continuing its course toward its next port destination.

British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Monday that a Marshall Islands-flagged, Greece-owned bulk carrier was targeted by missiles in two incidents within two minutes while transiting through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.

The bulker was reportedly hit and suffered damage to its the starboard side, Ambrey added.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis fired missiles at two vessels in the Red Sea, they said on Tuesday, causing minor damage to a cargo ship that was sailing off the coast of Yemen's Hodeidah.

In a startling development that has further heightened tensions in the already volatile Red Sea region, a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile successfully struck a US-owned and operated cargo ship, the Gibraltar Eagle, as announced by US Central Command in a statement reported by CNN.

The Marshall Islands-flagged tanker seized by Iran in the Gulf of Oman on Thursday has been located east of Iran's Qeshm Island, monitoring service TankerTrackers.com said in a post on social media platform X.

The Greek-owned tanker St Nikolas, sailing under a Marshall Islands flag, that was seized by a group of five gunmen off the coast of Oman on Thursday has now anchored at the port of Bandar Abbas in Iran, sources said on Friday.

The Greek Foreign Ministry has assumed responsibility for ensuring the safety and repatriation of a Greek national who is part of the tanker's crew.

Iran's navy seized a ship off Oman to retaliate for the "theft" of its oil from the same tanker last year by the United States, state media said Thursday.

The United States condemned what it called an "unlawful seizure" and demanded Iran "immediately release the ship and its crew".

Gulf oil states are using their vast wealth to build influence across the far-flung South Pacific, experts have told AFP, tearing a page straight out of China's Belt and Road playbook.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, two of the world's biggest crude oil producers, have been ramping up efforts to shed their reputations as global climate laggards.