Yemen's Houthis target vessels, company says Contship Ono not hit, crew safe

ATHENS/CAIRO - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement said on Wednesday that it had targeted the Contship Ono in the Red Sea and two U.S. destroyers in the Gulf of Aden, while Contships Management said the vessel had not been hit and its crew were safe.

Earlier, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Saree said that the Houthi air force also had targeted U.S. destroyer Cole with a number of drones and the U.S. destroyer Laboon with a number of ballistic missiles.

Saree said the Liberia-flagged, container ship Contship Ono was targeted with ballistic missiles and drones.

"The vessel and its crew are safe and there has been no incident affecting its operations," the Athens-based company said in a statement to Reuters.

The Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes on ships in the crucial shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Gulf of Aden since November to show their support for the Palestinians in the Gaza war.

This has forced shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa and has stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilise the Middle East.

The frequency of the attacks, however, appeared to have decreased after Israel hit military targets near Yemen's Hodeidah port on July 20, killing six people and wounding more than 80, a day after a drone launched by the Iranian-backed group hit the Israeli economic hub Tel Aviv.

On Aug.4, the Yemeni group claimed the first attack on shipping lanes in two weeks since the Israeli attack by targeting the Liberia-flagged container vessel MV Groton in the Gulf of Aden. — Reuters