Suspected Yemen Houthi rebel attack targets ship in Red Sea

Houthi rebels target ship in Red Sea amid escalating regional conflict, threatening commercial shipping and military vessels.

A suspected attack Tuesday (October 1, 2024) by Yemen's Houthi rebels targeted a ship in the Red Sea, likely marking their first assault on commercial shipping in weeks as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a regional conflict.

The attack comes as Israeli ground forces entered Lebanon after days of Israeli airstrikes that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top leaders and the earlier explosions of sabotaged electronic devices used by the Shiite militia. The Houthis had threatened “escalating military operations” targeting Israel on Monday (September 30, 2024) after they apparently shot down a U.S. military drone flying over the country.

The attack Tuesday morning took place some 110 kilometres (70 miles) off the port city of Hodeida in the Red Sea, which has become a battlefield for shippers since the Houthis began their campaign targeting ships traveling through a waterway that once saw $1 trillion a year of cargo pass through it.

A captain on a ship saw four “splashes” near his vessel, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said in a warning. That likely would have been missiles or drones launched at the vessel.

“All crew are safe and the vessel is proceeding to (its) next port of call,” the UKMTO said.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack. However, they sometimes take hours or days to acknowledge one of their assaults.

Houthis have targeted more than 80 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They have seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels.