Video shared to social media appeared to show an unmanned sea drone covered in explosives belonging to the Houthis being obliterated by Ukrainian armed guards as it approached the Liberia-flagged Pumba, a container ship on which they were stationed, in the Red Sea. The watercraft was believed to be full of explosives.
Upon being hit, the Iranian-backed Yemeni terrorist group's vessel burst into flames, though it was far enough away that it did not cause any damage to the Pumba. The attempted attack was just the latest in a string of similar incidents targeting container ships in the region.
Footage of the July 20 incident began with the ship's armed guards discussing the oncoming threat. As it got closer, they tried to determine whether there was anybody onboard. "Unmanned, no?" one said, to which another replied, "Check check check, looks like unmanned."
"Yeah, it's f*cking unmanned," he confirmed a short time later.
As the sea drone got closer, the guards began firing and eventually a bullet appeared to strike the intended target, causing it to explode.
According to The WarZone, the unmanned watercraft was just 30 meters away from the port side quarter of the Pumba when it was hit. The incident itself took place 64 nautical miles northwest of Al Mukha, Yemen, near the Red Sea's border with the Gulf of Aden.
Just hours before, an aerial drone was said to have exploded between 5 and ten meters above the Pumba, causing damage to a few containers and sparking a fire that was quickly extinguished. After the sea drone was shot, two other missiles struck the water nearby. It was only then that the crew discovered a small hole six meters above the waterline on the stern. The damage did not cause any issues with the functionality of the vessel.
