Houthi rebels in Yemen on Friday fired a missile that set fire to a ship carrying oil products for the commodities trader Trafigura, as the Iran-backed militants stepped up their attacks on commercial and military vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
The Houthi attack on the Marlin Luanda, a petroleum products tanker in the Gulf of Aden, was the first to hit a commercial vessel since the US and UK combined on a second set of strikes against the militants, who have caused major disruption to global trade by targeting a critical route.
The Houthis earlier on Friday fired an anti-ship ballistic missile at the USS Carney, a US navy vessel in the Gulf of Aden. US Central Command said the Carney had successfully shot the missile down.