Yemen’s Houthis attacked a commercial ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday A crackdown on shipping by Iranian-backed militias in support of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has recently escalated.
The British government’s maritime agency said the ship was “hit by a small boat” about 66 nautical miles southwest of the port of Hodeida, controlled by Yemen’s Houthi armed forces.
Britain’s Maritime Trade Operations said in a statement on its website that the ship “was taking on water and was not under the command of the crew” following the attack. The ship’s captain reported that the ship was also “hit by a UFO for a second time,” the statement said.
Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said in a televised speech that the group used unmanned surface craft, multiple drones and ballistic missiles to target the ship, which he identified as Greek-owned bulk carrier Tutor. He claimed the ship was badly damaged and could sink.
On Wednesday, the Houthis said they had launched two joint military operations with Iraq’s Islamic Resistance against the Israeli cities of Ashdod and Haifa, a claim Israel denied.
Since November, the Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on ships in key shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, choking global maritime trade.
In retaliation, the U.S. and British navies have stepped up air strikes against Houthi targets, the latest after the Houthis detained 11 United Nations employees in Yemen on June 7.
U.S. Central Command said its forces destroyed four drones and two anti-ship missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Friday and destroyed a Houthi patrol boat in the Red Sea.
In February, U.S. military officials said the United States struck five Houthi military targets, including an undersea drone they described as “an unmanned aerial vehicle they believed the Houthis may have received from Iran.” People underwater boats”.
