The Iran-backed group said they were targeting ships with links to Israel, the United States and Britain.
The crew of a commercial ship in the Red Sea has abandoned ship after a Houthi attack, the first such evacuation since the Houthis began threatening trade in the vital waterway late last year.
U.S. Central Command said on social media platform A coalition warship and another commercial vessel responded to the distress call and the crew of the Rubima were sent to a nearby port, it added.
Since November, the Houthis have been escalating their attacks on Yemen’s coastal areas, using missiles and drones to attack merchant ships. The Iran-backed group said they were targeting ships with links to Israel, the United States and Britain as part of their response to the war in Gaza and Western airstrikes trying to quell the attacks.
Rubymar is a relatively small cargo ship. According to the Equasis International Maritime Database, its registered owner is located in Southampton, UK.
A Houthi spokesman said in a statement that an unidentified British ship was attacked, causing it to “completely sink”, a claim that could not be independently confirmed.
Centcom did not mention in its statement whether the Rubymar had sunk, and the ship’s owner did not respond to previous requests for comment. UK Maritime Trade Operations has no further update on the incident.
Earlier, a company official from Lebanon’s GMZ Ship Management Company said the attack on the ship occurred in the engine room and bow. There were no reports of injuries to the crew, who were being flown to Djibouti, the official said.
About 12% of global trade and up to 30% of container traffic pass through the Suez Canal on the other side of the Red Sea each year. To avoid attacks, a large proportion of the world’s oil and gas carriers, commodity ships and container ships are now sailing thousands of miles in Africa, adding to sailing times and raising the cost of world shipping.
Also on Monday, another ship reported two explosions nearby with evidence of shrapnel and paint damage, but the ship continued on to its next port of call. Maritime intelligence company Ambrey described the vessel as a Greek-flagged bulk commodities carrier.
The Houthis said in a statement that they also targeted two other ships, but details could not immediately be confirmed.
The European Union on Monday officially launched a naval defense operation aimed at protecting commercial ships from attacks by Houthi armed forces. The mission, commanded by Greece, will accompany a number of ships and protect them from attacks from the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to the Persian Gulf.
Over the weekend, the United States said it carried out five self-defense attacks against the Houthis, including one targeting an underwater vessel. Central Command said this was the first observed deployment of undersea attack capabilities since the attack began.
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