No, Yemeni Houthis Have Not Recently Captured an Indian Ship Filled With Cows

There are no news reports or information available to support the fact that the India-bound ship was carrying cows.

Fact-Check | The images are being shared on social media platforms with a false claim.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A set of two images, one of a huge ship and the other showing a herd of cows, is being shared to claim that Yemeni Houthis recently captured an Indian ship mistaking it for an Israeli cargo ship.

What have users said?: Those sharing the images have said, "Yemen's Houthi organization took it over as an Israeli cargo ship, then it was found out that this Indian ship was loaded with cows, the Houthi organization left it, Hindu businessmen who sing the praises of cows, send their cows abroad for slaughter (sic)."

You can view an archive of the post here.

(Source: X/(formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)

What is the truth?: While Houthi rebels had reportedly hijacked an India-bound cargo ship in the Red Sea in November 2023, there is no information available to support the fact that it was carrying cows.

• Additionally, the Israeli government had said that the ship was owned by a British company and operated by a Japanese firm.

Where are the pictures from?: We performed a reverse image search on the first image and found a full version of the same one uploaded on a report published by Al Khaleej.

• It was published on 25 October 2013 and its headline when translated to English said, "License to receive livestock ships through Khalifa Port."

• The report said that Abu Dhabi Ports Company announced that it had obtained a license to receive ships with livestock through Khalifa Port.

• The Quint could not identify the source of the second image.

The report was published on 25 October 2013.

(Source: Al Khaleej/Screenshot)

Houthis capturing India-bound ship: According to Hindustan Times, the Israel government said that Houthi rebels in Yemen hijacked a ship in the Red Sea. However, there were no Israelis among the crew members.

• It mentioned that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had condemned the seizing of the ship that was owned by a British company and was operated by a Japanese firm.

• An Indian Express report added that the hijacking was in line with Houthis' earlier statement. The group had said that it would attack Israel-linked ships in the Red Sea if the latter continued its bloodshed in Palestine.

• However, we did not find any information about the ship carrying cows or livestock.

The report was published on 21 November 2023.

(Source: Indian Express/Screenshot)

Cow meat export is banned in India: Export of cow and calf meat is prohibited in India and is a criminal offence. You can read the news reports about this here, here, and here.

Conclusion: It is clear that two unrelated images are being shared to falsely claim that a herd of cows was found on the India-bound ship captured by Yemeni Houthis.

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