• The US military shot down four drones and one surface-to-air missile launched by the Houthis from regions under their control in Yemen

Saeed Al-Batati

 AL-MUKALLA: A missile believed to have been launched by Yemen’s Houthi militia struck a vessel off Yemen’s southern city of Aden on Thursday, as the US military said that it had shot down a fresh barrage of Houthi missiles and drones in the Gulf of Aden.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations, which documents ship attacks, said that it received a report from a vessel master about an explosion at “a distance astern of” the vessel while sailing 50 nautical miles southeast of Yemen’s city of Aden. The master reported no damage, and the crew was unharmed.

“The vessel is proceeding to its next port of call. Authorities are investigating,” UKMTO said.

The latest ship attack comes as the US Central Command said that the Houthis launched one anti-ship ballistic missile from areas under their control between 2 a.m. and 4:50 p.m. (Sanaa time) on Wednesday against international commercial and naval ships in the Gulf of Aden, but no ship was struck.

On Thursday, the US military shot down four drones and one surface-to-air missile launched by the Houthis from regions under their control in Yemen, according to a CENTCOM statement on social media site X.

The Houthis did not immediately take credit for assaulting the ship in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday or launching drones or missiles that were intercepted by US forces.

However, the Houthis routinely claim credit for Red Sea ship strikes hours after they occur.

Houthi media said on Thursday that the US and UK launched four strikes on the Al-Jah district of the Red Sea province of Hodeidah, a day after another round of strikes hit Hodeidah airport.

Since November, the Houthis have fired hundreds of drones, missiles, and remotely controlled boats at commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, and Gulf of Aden, claiming that their actions are intended to force Israel to allow humanitarian assistance, including water and food, into the Palestinian
Gaza Strip.

At the same time, the diplomatic missions of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, and the US all condemned the Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea, including the Houthi missile attack on the Liberian-owned MV True Confidence, which killed two Filipino and one Vietnamese civilian sailors.

“It is critical that the Houthis cease these attacks immediately. These illegal attacks have taken the lives of innocent sailors and only serve to destabilize the region and harm the people of Yemen,” the diplomats said in a joint statement.