DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A ship in the Red Sea came under attack at least three times Tuesday in an assault that included the use of a bomb-carrying drone boat, likely the latest in a campaign by Yemen‘s Houthi rebels over the Israel-Hamas war, officials said.
The attacks come as the rebels’ main sponsor, Iran, weighs possible retaliation against Israel over the assassination of Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh in July, which has renewed fears of a wider regional war in the Middle East.
Already, the Houthi assaults have disrupted the $1 trillion annual flow of goods through the maritime route crucial to trade among Asia, Europe and the Middle East, while also sparking the most intense combat for the U.S. Navy since World War II.
The ship was first attacked as an explosive was detonated near it, the British military‘s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said. Then a small vessel “acting suspiciously” flashed a light near the ship and came close, actions that were followed by a second blast, the UKMTO said.
The private security firm Ambrey similarly reported the attacks, saying the ship saw “two ‘close-proximity’ explosions.”
The third attack happened hours later Tuesday, some 180 kilometers (110 miles) northwest of the Houthi-held port city Hodeida, the UKMTO said. A drone boat attacked the vessel but “was successfully disabled,” it added. Armed private security forces on vessels have begun opening…
