Suspected Houthi Missile Targets Commercial Ship in Red Sea

A merchant ship was hit by a missile in the Red Sea early Friday, according to the British Navy, in a strike suspected to have been carried out by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, one day after the group threatened to expand the scope of their attacks on commercial vessels “connected to” Israel.

 According to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the vessel reported it was struck by a missile and sustained some damage while moving through the Red Sea around 76 nautical miles off the Yemeni port city of Al Hudaydah.

All crew members onboard were reported safe and the ship is continuing toward its next port of call—which was not mentioned in the notification.

The Houthis have yet to officially claim responsibility for this latest attack.

In a notification from earlier in the day, the UKMTO said another vessel moving through the same area reported seeing two missiles fly over it and then heard two loud blasts in the distance.

In its daily update late on Thursday, the U.S. military’s central command said the Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles toward the Red Sea and two others toward the Gulf of Aden, but no damages or injuries were reported from these launches.

CENTCOM said it had also “successfully engaged and destroyed nine anti-ship missiles and two unmanned aerial vehicles” inside Houthi-controlled territory after determining “these weapons presented an imminent threat” to commercial shipping and the U.S. Navy.


The latest flurry of activity from the Iran-backed militia comes a day after the group claimed it had acquired hypersonic missiles while speaking to Russian state media. The Houthi official quoted by Russian state media said its missile could move at the speed of Mach 8—eight times the speed of sound. Hypersonic missiles can usually travel at Mach 5 or higher speeds, making them harder to intercept. Washington, however, was skeptical of these claims, with National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby telling reporters: “There's absolutely no indication that the Houthis have access to a hypersonic weapon.”

In Yemen, the militia group’s leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said Thursday his fighters will expand their scope of operations and target ships “connected to the Israeli enemy” in the Indian Ocean “heading towards the Cape of Good Hope.” If the Houthis follow through with this threat, it could have even more serious impacts on global shipping and commerce.

The Houthis have continued to target commercial and military ships in the Red Sea since November, claiming they were acting in retaliation against the Israeli military operation in Gaza. Since the start of the new year, both the U.S. and British forces have carried out several strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen, but have failed to fully curb the attacks.