The US slapped sanctions against three vessels and their owners Monday for delivering oil and gas supplies to Yemen’s Houthi rebels, according to the Treasury Department.
The sanctions bar the parties from doing further business with the terrorists or risk civil or criminal US penalties.
The move targeted the Marshall Islands-registered Zaas Shipping & Trading Co. and Great Success Shipping Co. and the Mauritius-registered Bagsak Shipping Co. — along with the cargo ships they used to delivery the energy supplies to the Houthi-controlled port of Ra Isa.
“Today’s action underscores our commitment to disrupt the Houthis’ efforts to fund their dangerous and destabilizing attacks in the region,” Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Michael Faulkender said in a statement.
“Treasury will continue to leverage our tools and authorities to target those who seek to enable the Houthis’ ability to exploit the people of Yemen and continue their campaign of violence,” he added.
Zaas Shipping is accused of delivering liquid petroleum gas to the Houthis on April 10 using a San Marino-flagged vessel, which has allegedly transported fuel products on behalf of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in the past.
Bagsak Shipping allegedly delivered gas to Ras Isa using a Panama-flagged ship April 8, with the vessel previously accused of bypassing Western sanctions to transport Russian crude oil and petroleum products in 2023.
Great Success is also accused of delivering gas and oil to the Houthi port under its Panama-flagged ship April 17.
The three companies have yet to publicly respond to the sanctions.
The sanctions are being handled by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which is specifically targeting the Houthi rebels for their continued attacks against trading vessels and American military ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The Iran-backed rebel group has brought turmoil to the busy trade route in a show of solidarity for the Palestinian terror organization Hamas, with the Trump administration vowing to put pressure on the rebels to end their attacks after designating the Houthis as a “Foreign Terrorist Organization” in March.
The sanctions are set to hit the Houthis’ “revenue generation, financial facilitators, and suppliers,” the Treasury Department said.
The department warned that if the ships and their companies violate the sanctions, OFAC will impose civil or criminal penalties against those involved.
The sanctions were the latest blow against the Houthis’ energy sector, with the US hitting the Ras Isa fuel port with a series of airstrikes earlier this month.
The attack killed at least 74 people and wounded 171, including employees running the port, according to the Houthi-run health ministry said.
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