Explosions reported near Red Sea ship in suspected Houthi attack

A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels saw multiple explosions strike near a vessel traveling through the Red Sea on Tuesday, though no damage was immediately reported by the ship, authorities said.

A vessel in the southern reaches of the Red Sea, about 80 miles southwest of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, reported the attack, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

No one was wounded on board in the blasts, and the ship was continuing on its journey, the UKMTO added.

The Houthis didn’t immediately claim the attack. However, it can take the rebels hours or even days before they acknowledge one of their assaults.

The attack comes as the rebels continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon.

The Houthis, a terror group, say the attacks on global shipping and on Israel are in support of Palestinian terror group Hamas, which led an invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage, sparking the war in Gaza.

The group has insisted that the attacks will continue as long as the wars go on, and the assaults already have halved shipping through the region.

In more than 100 Houthi attacks over nearly a year, four sailors have been killed and two ships have sunk, while one vessel and its crew remain detained since being hijacked last November.