Dubai, United Arab Emirates–A British-owned cargo ship was damaged in a drone attack off rebel-held Yemen, a maritime security firm said on Tuesday, the latest in dozens of incidents in the Red Sea.
The Barbados-flagged ship “reportedly incurred minor damage on the port side” in an attack west of Hodeida, British firm Ambrey said, adding that there were no injuries.
The ship speeded up and performed “evasive manoeuvres” before continuing south toward the Bab al-Mandeb strait, the firm said.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who control much of the war-torn country, have been harassing Red Sea shipping for months in protest against the Israel-Hamas war.
Their attacks have triggered reprisals by American and British forces, including a wave of air strikes that hit dozens of targets late on Saturday.
The Houthis regard all Israeli, US and British ships as legitimate targets following Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, and US and British targeting of Houthi missile positions in what the two countries say are efforts to protect commerce.
Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said last week that the movement’s armed forces had targeted an American merchant ship named KOI with “several appropriate naval missiles”.
The ship, he said, had been heading to “the ports of occupied Palestine”, a phrase which is sometimes used to mean Israel.
However industry publication Trade Winds said that the claim was “fake” and that in fact a sick crew member had been taken off the ship in a medical evacuation.
Two maritime security sources supported this assessment. There has also been no word from UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), which normally sends alerts when such attacks are carried out.
But Mr Sarea reiterated that the Houthis would “not hesitate” to retaliate against “British-American escalation”.
“All American and British ships in the Red and Arabian Seas are legitimate targets for the Yemeni Armed Forces as long as the American-British aggression against our country continues,” the Houthi spokesman said.