Missile Attack Alert: US-Owned Ship Targeted Off Yemen In Fresh Act Of Aggression

United States Central Command identified the ship as the M/V Gibraltar Eagle.

The incident will further heighten shipping and security fears for the volatile region where the Iran-backed Huthi rebels have for weeks fired drones and missiles towards vessels they deem Israeli-linked in the adjacent Red Sea.

United States and United Kingdom forces responded on Friday with strikes against scores of rebel targets in Yemen, which the Huthis said would not deter them.

Three missiles were launched by the Huthis, Ambrey said, with two of them not reaching the sea.

Ambrey “assessed the attack to have targeted US interests in response to US military strikes on Huthi military positions in Yemen”, the report said, adding that the vessel was “assessed to not be Israel-affiliated”.

“The impact reportedly caused a fire in a hold. The bulker reportedly remained seaworthy, and no injuries were reported,” it said.

The ship was transiting the International Recommended Transit Corridor, a passage of the Gulf of Aden that is patrolled for pirates, when it was struck, Ambrey added.

There was no immediate statement from the rebels, but the Houthi military and a Yemeni government source told AFP that the insurgents fired three missiles on Monday.