Houthis claim to target ‘two American ships’ in Gulf of Aden after damaging vessel yesterday

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels say they targeted two American ships in the Gulf of Aden, after maritime agencies reported a US-owned vessel was attacked twice in those waters.

Houthi naval forces used missiles to target “two American ships in the Gulf of Aden. The first was ‘Sea Champion’ and the other was ‘Navis Fortuna,'” according to a statement from the group.

US CENTCOM said earlier that the Rubymar, a Belize-flagged, British-registered and Lebanese-managed vessel was damaged yesterday in a Houthi attack.

CENTCOM confirmed that two anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi controlled areas of Yemen and targeted the Rubymar yesterday: “One of the missiles struck the vessel, causing damage. The ship issued a distress call and a coalition warship along with another merchant vessel responded to the call to assist the crew of the Rubymar,” CENTCOM said on X.