DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — On Saturday, Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched an attack on a commercial ship traveling through the Gulf of Aden. The incident did not result in any damage, authorities reported, marking the latest in a series of strikes by the group on this critical maritime route.
This attack follows the sinking of the ship Tutor earlier in the week, signaling an escalation by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their campaign against ships in this vital corridor, amidst the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The U.S. military has ordered the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, the aircraft carrier leading America’s response to the Houthi attacks, to return home after an extended deployment. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported “explosions in the vicinity of the vessel” targeted late Friday. The U.S.-overseen Joint Maritime Information Center later confirmed that the vessel reported two initial explosions off its port side and a third one later but sustained no damage and continued its journey safely.
Houthi military spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree identified the targeted vessel as the bulk carrier Transworld Navigator. The Houthis, who have controlled Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, since 2014, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Since November, the Houthis have conducted more than 60 attacks on specific vessels, resulting in four sailor deaths, and have seized one vessel and sunk two others. A U.S.-led airstrike campaign against the Houthis began in January, with a notable series of strikes on May 30 killing at least 16 people and injuring 42, according to rebel reports.
In March, the Belize-flagged vessel Rubymar, carrying fertilizer, became the first to sink in the Red Sea following a prolonged period of taking on water after a Houthi attack.
The Houthis assert their attacks target vessels associated with Israel, the United States, or Britain, although many of the attacked ships have had minimal or no connection to the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower, based in Norfolk, Virginia, is returning home after over eight months of intense deployment, the most rigorous since World War II according to the Navy. It will be replaced by the San Diego-based USS Theodore Roosevelt after an exercise in the Indo-Pacific.
The Roosevelt anchored in Busan, South Korea, amidst ongoing tensions with North Korea. Meanwhile, the Eisenhower had reached the Mediterranean Sea, with a Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk helicopter from the ship flying off the coast of Port Said, Egypt, on Saturday night. Despite repeated false attack claims by the Houthis, the Eisenhower has now left the area, with no evidence supporting the latest Houthi claim of another attack on the carrier.