The attack on Saturday happened some 225 kilometres (140 miles) southeast of Aden in a stretch of the Gulf of Aden that has seen numerous Houthi attacks previously. It hit the container ship Groton just above its waterline, causing minor damage, said the Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational coalition overseen by the US Navy. An earlier missile attack missed the vessel, the JMIC said.
“All crew on board are safe,” the centre said. “The vessel was reported diverting to a port nearby.”
The Groton had left Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates bound for Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Groton’s Greek managers did not respond to a request for comment.
Brigadier General Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a pre-recorded statement Sunday afternoon. The rebels have targeted more than 70 vessels with missiles and drones in a campaign that has killed four sailors.
The Houthis maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States, or Britain as part of the rebels’ campaign they say seeks to force an end to the Israel-Gaza war in the Gaza Strip.
In the case of the Groton, JMIC said that the ship “was targeted due to other vessels within its company structure making recent port calls in Israel”.
In the time since, there has not been a reported attack on shipping through the Red Sea corridor, which links Asia and the Middle East onto Europe through the Suez Canal.
The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group will enter the Middle East to replace the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group, which is in the Gulf of Oman.
Meanwhile on Saturday, the US military’s Central Command said its forces destroyed a Houthi missile and launcher in Yemen.
Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel sparked the war. Israel has killed at least 39,583 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and 590 in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials say.