British Shipping Association: Houthi rebels attack ships off the coast of Yemen

July 15 (UPI) – The Yemeni Houthi militia attacked two merchant ships on Monday, the British Maritime Trade Operations said.

The captain of a ship sailing 70 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah, Yemen, reported at around 8 a.m. GMT that a rocket had hit near the ship.

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Forty-five minutes later, the captain reported that two more rockets had exploded near the ship, but the ship and crew were unharmed. He reported that the ship had been attacked by three small blue and white ships, two with people on board and one unmanned.

The unmanned vehicle collided with the ship twice and the two manned vehicles fired at it.

“The ship and crew are reportedly safe and proceeding to the next port of call,” the maritime authority said.

UKMTO also reported that a merchant vessel was spotted by a remote-controlled boat 97 nautical miles north-west of Hodeidah at 12:00 GMT.

The port side of his vessel was struck, causing some damage and light smoke. The vessel was reported safe and proceeded to its next port of call.

The Houthis claimed no responsibility for the attacks.

On Sunday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for two attacks – one in the Gulf of Aden and one in Eilat on the southern tip of Israel.

Since November, the Houthis have destroyed two ships, hijacked another and fired hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and remote-controlled boats loaded with explosives at more than 100 warships and merchant vessels on international sea routes off the coast of Yemen.

On Saturday, General Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of the US Central Command, visited Jordan and Syria to meet with politicians and US soldiers and gain “a better understanding of the regional security situation”, including Yemen.

Kurilla met with Jordan’s Chief of Staff Yousef Alhnaity and key members of his staff, the Central Command said on Monday. He also visited several US military facilities in Jordan and Syria “to assess improvements in force protection and overall efforts to combat IS.”

The San Diego-based aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt arrived in the Middle East on Friday to relieve the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower “to deter aggression, promote regional stability and protect the free flow of commerce in the region,” according to U.S. Central Command.