Yemen's Houthi rebels use drone boat in latest Red Sea assault

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A ship traveling through the Red Sea on Thursday reported being hit in an attack carried out by Yemen's Houthi rebels, authorities said, the latest in the campaign targeting shipping over the Israel-Hamas war.

The ship issued a radio call off the coast of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida saying it had been struck, the private security firm Ambrey first reported. A warship in the area was responding to the attack, Ambrey said.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center later also confirmed the attack.

"The nature of the attack is reported as a waterborne improvised explosive device," the UKMTO said. "The vessel and crew are reported as safe, and the vessel is proceeding to their next port of call."

The UKMTO did not elaborate, but Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree in a prerecorded message released Thursday night said the rebels used a drone boat in the attack on the vessel. He identified the ship as the Seajoy, a Malta-flagged bulk carrier.

The rebels have targeted more than 60 vessels by firing missiles and drones in their campaign, which has killed four sailors. They have seized one vessel and have sunk two since November. A U.S.-led airstrike campaign has targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes on May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say.

The Houthis maintain that their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the United States or Britain. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the Israel-Hamas war — including some bound for Iran.

Late on Tuesday, Saree, the Houthi military spokesman, said the group was responsible for an attack Monday on the Liberian-flagged, Greek-managed container ship MSC Sarah V. On Wednesday, the Houthis claimed they used a new hypersonic ballistic missile in the assault, which targeted a ship farther away than nearly all of the previous assaults they've launched in the Gulf of Aden.

The U.S. military's Central Command also said it destroyed a Houthi radar site. Another attack Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden was suspected to have been carried out by the Houthis, though they have yet to claim it.

Meanwhile on Thursday, the U.N. Security Council again demanded that the Houthi rebels immediately halt all attacks on ships in the region and called for the conflicts disrupting maritime security to be addressed — without naming the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The resolution, which also extends the requirement that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres report monthly on Houthi attacks, was approved Thursday by a vote of 12-0 with Russia, China and Algeria abstaining.