DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A missile attack by set a ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The attack hit the Netherlands-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht, which had been targeted in a failed assault last week as well by the Iranian-backed Houthis, according to the French military’s Maritime Information, Cooperation and Awareness Center.
“At this time, the vessel is reported to be on fire,” the center said. A “warship is heading to the scene.”
Local Yemeni media reported a possible ballistic missile launch from territory controlled by the Houthis. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported the attack, as did the private security firm Ambrey, which similarly identified the ship as the Minervagracht.
The Houthis did not immediately claim the possible attack. However, it can take hours or even days before the rebels claim their assaults.
The ship’s owner, the Amsterdam-based firm Spliethoff, did not respond to questions from The Associated Press. It wasn’t clear why the Houthis twice targeted the Minervagracht.
The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks on Israel and in response to , saying they were acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.
The U.S. Navy-overseen Joint Maritime Information Center earlier said that the shipper had “no Israeli affiliations.”
The Houthi attack widens the area of the rebels’ recent assaults, as the last recorded attack on a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden before the Minervagracht came in August 2024.
Their attacks over the past two years have upended , through which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before the war.
The Houthis stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war. They later became the target of an intense weekslong campaign of before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels. The , killing at least four on board, with others believed to be held by the rebels.
The attack on Monday comes as Israel intensifies the war in Gaza, targeting Gaza City in a new ground offensive. Meanwhile, tensions remain high as United Nations sanctions have been reimposed on Iran over . Israel launched a 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in June in which the Americans bombed three Iranian atomic sites.
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Associated Press writer Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, contributed to this report.
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