Houthi missile strike kills two civilian mariners, U.S. officials say

At least six other mariners were injured, and the crew has abandoned ship, one of the U.S. officials said, adding that the attack marks the fifth anti-ship missile launched by the Houthis in the past two days.

The area where the attack took place has become an especially dangerous transit zone as Houthi forces in Yemen have stepped up their targeting of ships in what they have described as a response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.

On Wednesday, British marine safety firm Ambrey said that rescue and salvage operations were underway, and that parts of the ship’s crew were “already in lifeboats.” It said an Indian navy vessel, after attempting to contact the damaged cargo ship, was observed “in the vicinity of the last known position of the affected vessel.”

Earlier, Ambrey said the Barbados-flagged cargo ship was “drifting” about 57 nautical miles from the southwestern coast of Yemen, after a nearby vessel reported an explosion in the vicinity of the cargo ship.

Ambrey said the vessel was traveling toward the northwest when it was “highly likely hailed by an entity declaring itself to be” the Yemeni navy and ordered to change course.

After the ship was observed turning around and sailing in a different direction, it started to drift, and stopped transmitting its location and identification signal, Ambrey said.

During the ongoing war in Gaza, Houthi forces have attacked merchant and military vessels in the Gulf of Aden, the Red and Arabian seas, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait — an important area for international trade and maritime traffic.

This week, the cargo ship Rubymar sank in the Red Sea after an attack by Houthi militants, taking about 21,000 metric tons of fertilizer down with it, posing a significant environmental risk to one of the world’s busiest waterways and the home of many coral reefs.

The United States and Britain have responded with strikes against Yemen, and in December, Washington announced a new coalition of countries that would work to counter Houthi attacks and ensure “freedom of navigation for all countries.”