The Yemen-based Huthi group has attacked shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in what they call a show of solidarity with Palestinians over the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. A social media user shared images of a ship on fire, claiming it showed a “Yemen” attack on an Israeli ship. But the claim is incorrect: the images come from a 2022 explosion of a Nigerian oil container ship.
“Yemen sent an Israeli ship to the bottom of the sea,” reads one X message published on September 29, 2024.
An Iran-based user shared the video showing flames and smoke coming from a half-submerged ship.
Yemen’s Huthi rebels have attacked dozens of them merchant ships off the country’s coast for the past ten months as part of a sometimes deadly campaign they say is in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza (archived here).
The Iranian-backed group’s drone and missile attacks have targeted nearly 100 ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center, which is run by a Western naval coalition.
Social media users liked the post more than 6,000 times, with several people praising the alleged attack.
“Good for Yemen. The bravest country and people fighting against Israel and the US and trying to protect the Palestinian people and Hezbollah,” one user wrote.
But the claim that the video shows a Yemeni attack on an Israeli ship is false.
Nigerian explosion
A reverse image search revealed that the original footage comes from a February 2022 maritime disaster in Nigeria (archived here).
“FPSO Nigerian oil vessel explodes, killing 10 after FPSO Trinity Spirit explodes…” reads part of the caption on one YouTube video, published February 2022 (archived here).
Using a keyword search for “FPSO Trinity Spirit explosion”, AFP Fact Check found other fragments of the disaster international media sites (archived here).
In both videos the ship is partially submerged and a red tower with a white symbol is visible. The same stamp is also visible from the stern of the ship.
The FPSO Trinity Spirit exploded at the Ukpokiti terminal in southern Nigeria, express concerns on the country’s aging energy infrastructure (archived here).
The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission has a research in the explosion, which killed seven people and spilled about 60,000 barrels of oil into the Atlantic Ocean (archived here).
AFP Fact Check has debunked several false claims about attacks in the Red Sea, which you can read about here.