A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck a tanker in the Red Sea early Friday, causing damage to the vessel while the crew was reported unharmed, authorities said.
The attack off the port city of Hodeida comes as part of the rebels’ campaign against shipping over Israel’s ongoing war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said the ship reported being “struck by a missile.”
“The vessel has sustained some damage,” the UKMTO added. It described the crew as being “safe” and said the ship was continuing on its way, suggesting the damage wasn’t severe.
The private security firm Ambrey also reported Friday’s attack and said the tanker with armed guards aboard had a “near miss” on Thursday off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden. It said the ship had been Israel-affiliated but changed owners in February.
The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility the attack — it typically takes the rebels hours to acknowledge their assaults. Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, said an “important announcement” would be coming later Friday afternoon from the rebels.
The Houthis have attacked ships since November, saying they want to force Israel to end its offensive in Gaza.
The ships targeted by the Houthis, however, largely have had little or no connection to Israel, the US or other nations involved in the war. The rebels have also fired missiles toward Israel, though they have largely fallen short or been intercepted.
The assaults on shipping have raised the profile of the Houthis, who are members of Islam’s minority Shiite Zaydi sect, which ruled Yemen for 1,000 years until 1962.
A report on Thursday claimed the Houthis now had a hypersonic missile, potentially increasing that cachet and putting more pressure on Israel after a cease-fire deal failed to take hold in Gaza before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Hypersonic missiles also would pose a more serious threat to American and allied warships in the region.
Earlier in March, a Houthi missile struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, killing three of its crew members and forcing survivors to abandon the vessel. It marked the first fatal attack by the Houthis on shipping.
Other recent Houthi actions include an attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertiliser, the Rubymar, which later sank after drifting for several days.
