Suspected Houthi drone attack in Red Sea damages ship bound for China

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A Liberian-flagged container ship was damaged in a drone strike in the Red Sea suspected of being carried out by the Houthis, the latest attack by the Yemeni group on the vital maritime corridor.

The attack on the China-bound ship took place on Sunday morning off the coast of the city of Hodeida, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center, which is run by the British Navy, said. The ship was damaged, but the sailors on board were “unharmed”. The extent of the damage was not specified, but the investigation is still ongoing.

The attack came after the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower returned home after an eight-month deployment as a US counterattack to the Houthi attacks. The carrier will be replaced by the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which is due to arrive after a planned exercise in the Asia-Pacific region.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war, the Houthis have been attacking ships affiliated with Israel in the Red Sea.

They claim the aim of the attacks is to end the war and exact an economic price from Israel and its Western allies.

The attacks have led to a drastic reduction in shipping traffic on the route, which is crucial to markets in Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The Houthis say this campaign will continue as long as Israel continues its assault on Gaza.

The Houthis have carried out more than 60 attacks on cargo ships, killing at least four sailors, and have fired missiles and drones at Western warships designed to deter them. Since November, they have hijacked one ship and sunk two.

A US military-led airstrike campaign has been targeting the Houthis since January. The latest wave of attacks on May 30 killed at least 16 people and injured more than 40, but did not stop the attacks.

Two days before the alleged attack on the China-bound ship, the Houthis had attacked a merchant ship in the Gulf of Aden with anti-ship ballistic missiles, but without causing any damage.

The ship reported two explosions on its port side and later a third, the US-led Joint Maritime Information Center said.

The US Central Command announced on Saturday that its forces had destroyed three Houthi unmanned surface vessels in the Red Sea.

Additional reporting by agencies.