A Norwegian ship has been hit by a robot off the coast of Yemen, AP reports. No one in the crew is injured and should be safe.
Houthi rebels from Yemen have claimed the attack.
Last week, the Iran-backed Houthi movement threatened to attack both Israeli merchant ships in the Red Sea and those ships sailing towards Israeli ports.
“The Zionist Unity”
It was on its way from Malaysia to Italy with raw materials for biofuel. This should have nothing to do with Israel, but the Houthis have attacked several ships in the area in what they call a support operation. The other day, the movement posted a communiqué online threatening to “prevent ship passages bound for the Zionist entity,” paraphrased for Israel, as long as food and medicine are not allowed free passage into the Gaza Strip.
The announcement came after the car transport ship Galaxy Leader was hijacked in a dramatic helicopter operation in November. The ship, which was said to be empty, was taken to the major Yemeni port of al-Hudayda and is being held there.
Have control
However, both US Mason and other Western military vessels have thwarted several other Yemen-based attack attempts in and around the Red Sea following the outbreak of war between Israel and Palestinian Hamas in early October.
The Houthi movement is seen by large parts of the outside world as rebels, but has been in control of large parts of western Yemen for a number of years. It has the military and political support of regional power Iran, and can thus hold its own against other parties in the long-running civil war in Yemen.