Missile strikes US-owned ship off coast of Yemen in Gulf of Aden

A missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck a US-owned ship on Monday just off the coast of Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, less than a day after Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an anti-ship cruise missile toward an American destroyer in the Red Sea, officials said.

Private security firms Ambrey and Dryad Global identified the vessel as the Eagle Gibraltar, a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier.

The ship is owned by Eagle Bulk, a firm based in Stamford, Connecticut, in the US, and traded on the New York Stock Exchange.

In a statement the company acknowledged the strike and said it caused “limited damage to a cargo hold but (the ship) is stable and is heading out of the area”.

“All seafarers onboard the vessel are confirmed to be uninjured,” the firm said. “The vessel is carrying a cargo of steel products. Eagle Bulk management is in close contact with all relevant authorities concerning this matter.”

The US military’s Central Command acknowledged the strike, blaming the Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

“The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey,” Central Command said.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree claimed the attack in a recorded television address on Monday.

“The Yemeni armed forces consider all American and British ships and warships participating in the aggression against our country as hostile targets,” he said.

Satellite-tracking data analysed by the Associated Press showed the Eagle Gibraltar had been bound for the Suez Canal, but rapidly turned around at the time of the attack.

The incident comes less than a day after Yemen’s Houthi rebels fired an anti-ship cruise missile towards an American destroyer in the Red Sea.

Details remained scarce on the missile strike, though it marked the latest attack on global shipping amid Israel’s war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Sunday’s attack towards the American warship marked the first US-acknowledged fire by the Houthis since the US and allied nations began strikes on Friday on the rebels following weeks of assaults on shipping in the Red Sea.

The Houthis, a Shia rebel group allied with Iran that seized Yemen’s capital in 2014, have targeted the crucial corridor linking Asian and Middle East energy and cargo shipments to the Suez Canal and onwards to Europe over the Israel-Hamas war.

The attacks threaten to widen that conflict into a regional conflagration.

It is not clear whether the US would retaliate for the latest attacks, though President Joe Biden has said he “will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary”.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which oversees Middle East waters, said the attack on the ship on Monday happened some 110 miles south-east of Aden.

It offered few details, other than to say the ship’s captain reported that the “port side of vessel hit from above by a missile”. It did not identify the ship or elaborate.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels did not acknowledge any attack, though they have fired missiles previously in that area.

The Houthi fire on Sunday was in the direction of the USS Laboon, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operating in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, the US military’s Central Command said.

The missile came from near Hodeida, a Red Sea port city long held by the Houthis, the US said.

There were no injuries or damage reported.

The first day of US-led strikes on Friday hit 28 locations and struck more than 60 targets with cruise missiles and bombs launched by fighter jets, warships and a submarine. Sites hit included weapon depots, radars and command centres, including in remote mountain areas, the US said.

The Houthis have yet to acknowledge how severe the damage was from the strikes, which they said killed five of their troops and wounded six others.

US forces followed up with a strike on Saturday on a Houthi radar site.

Shipping through the Red Sea has slowed. On Friday, the US Navy warned American-flagged vessels to steer clear of areas around Yemen in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden for 72 hours after the initial air strikes.

The Houthis alleged without providing evidence that the US struck a site near Hodeida on Sunday around the same time as the cruise missile incident.

The Americans and the UK did not acknowledge conducting any strike – suggesting the blast may have been from a misfiring Houthi missile.

Since November, the rebels have repeatedly targeted ships in the Red Sea, saying they were avenging Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas.

But they have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperilling shipping in a key route for global trade.