An attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels🉐 saw an explosion take place near a Liberian-flagged container ship iꦯn the Red Sea on Monday, though the blast caused no damage, authorities said.
The master of the vessel reported the explosion and said no one was hurt, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. T⛎he UKMTO later identified the vessel as the Pinocchio, managed by a Singaporean firm.
The private security firm Ambrey say the incident may have involved a missile, bu𒁃t inform💎ation remained scarce.
Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree claimed the attack early Tuesday in a prerecorded statement, claiming the Pinocchio was an American s𝔍hip without offering evidence to support the assertion. He also claimed the vessel was hit by “naval missiles,” again providing no evidence to su🐭pport the claim.
He said the Houthis would continue their attacks, aimed at pressuring an end to the Israel-Hamas war in the G🎉aza Strip. However, the Houthi a✤ttacks targeting vessel since November have increasingly had little or no connection to Israel, the United States or other nations involved in the war.
Monday's attack comes after a Houthi missile struck a comme🅺rcial ship in the Gulf of Aden last week, killing three of its crew members and forcing survivors to abandon the vessel.
It was the first fatal strike in a campaign of assaults by the Iranian-backed group over Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Houthis say the attacks are intended to pressure Israel into st🎀opping the war, but their targets increasingly have little or nothing to do with the conflict.
Other recent Houthi actions include an attack last month on a cargo ship carrying fertil🤪izer, the Rubymar, which later sank after drifting for several days, and the downing of an American drone worth tens of millions of dollars.
The US has led a series of airstrikes targeting the Houthis since January, but they have yet to stop the rebels' attacks on shipping, which have disrupted trade th𝓰rough the Red Sea, a crucial waterway for energy and cargo shipments between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
