Houthi militants strike US-owned commercial ship with anti-ship ballistic missile

Houthi militants on Monday struck a U.S.-owned and operated container ship with an anti-ship ballistic missile, according to U.S. Central Command.

«The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey,» a statement from the command read.

The vessel was struck around 4 p.m. local time and was identified as the M/V Gibraltar Eagle. The missile was fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, CENTCOM said.

A spokesperson for the Houthis said in a statement that it «carried out a military operation targeting an American ship in the Gulf of Aden, with a number of appropriate naval missiles, and the hit was accurate and direct.»

After a volley of U.S. strikes intended to diminish the Houthis' capabilities, the Yemeni militia group mounted several retaliatory attacks — targeting a U.S. destroyer on Sunday and striking an American-owned commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Monday — further escalating tensions in critical Middle Eastern waterways.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said that the Gibraltar Eagle, a bulk carrier sailing under the Marshall Islands flag and owned by a Connecticut-based company, was struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, but that the ship «has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey.»

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operation said the ship's captain reported that the vessel was «hit from above by a missile» on its port side.

The Gibraltar Eagle appears to be the first American-owned ship to be hit by a Houthi missile during the Iranian-backed militia's monthslong assault against maritime traffic in the waters surrounding Yemen.

«It was inevitable that one of these Iranian-provided