Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels fired on Wednesday Two missiles from an area believed to be under their control towards a commercial tanker near the key Bab El-Mandeb Strait but missed it, a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
The official added that an American warship also shot down a suspected Houthi rebels drone flying in its direction during the incident. No one was hurt in the attack, the official said.
The ship that was targeted, the oil and chemical tanker Marshall Islands-flagged Ardmore Encounter, was traveling north toward the Suez Canal in the Red Sea, satellite tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press showed. The vessel had been coming from India and had an armed security crew aboard it. The ship’s managers could not be immediately reached for comment.
Meanwhile, a speedboat with armed men aboard approached two vessels transiting off the coast of Yemen’s Red Sea port of Hodeidah, an advisory note from British maritime security company Ambrey said on Wednesday.
Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said it had received reports of an incident in the vicinity of the Bab Al-Mandab Strait, without giving more details.
Ambrey said a Marshall islands-flagged chemical tanker reported an “exchange of fire” with a speedboat 55 nautical miles (around 102 kilometers) off Hodeidah, adding that the boat approached the tanker and initiated the gunfire at a distance of 300 meters (1,000 feet).
It said the tanker was hailed by an entity claiming to be the Yemeni Navy that asked the vessel to alter course but a “coalition” warship advised the ship to maintain it.
Shortly after the tanker incident, Ambrey said, the speedboat approached a Malta-flagged bulk carrier 52 nautical miles off Hodeidah’s shores, adding that it would provide updates as relevant.
The recent rebel assaults expand a campaign by the Iranian-backed rebels targeting ships close to the Bab El-Mandeb Strait into apparently now striking those that have no clear ties to Israel. That potentially imperils cargo and energy shipments coming through the Suez Canal and further widens the international impact of the Israel-Hamas war now raging in the Gaza Strip.
The attack also comes after a missile fired Monday night by Yemen’s Houthi rebels slammed into a Norwegian-flagged tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.