DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A commercial ship traveling through the Red Sea came under repeated attack Wednesday, leaving the vessel “not under command” and drifting ablaze after an assault suspected to have been carried out by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the British military said.
Few details were immediately available about the attack, though it comes during the Houthis’ monthslong campaign targeting ships over the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
The attack saw men on small boats first open fire with small arms some 140 kilometers (90 miles) west of the rebel-held Yemeni port city of Hodeida, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.
Four projectiles also hit the ship, it added. It wasn’t immediately clear if that meant drones or missiles.
“The vessel reports being not under command,” the UKMTO said, likely meaning it lost all power. “No casualties reported.”
Later, the UKMTO warned the ship was drifting while on fire in the Red Sea.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the attack, though it can take them hours or even days before their acknowledge one of their assaults.
The Houthis have targeted more than 80 vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October. They seized one vessel and sunk two in the campaign that also killed four sailors.
Other missiles and drones have been either intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach…
