Houthis Strike Liberian-Flagged Tanker in Red Sea With Missiles

A container ship crosses an oil platform at the Gulf of Suez toward the Red Sea before entering the Suez Canal, outside of Cairo, Egypt, on Sept. 1, 2020. Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters

A Liberian-flagged oil tanker was targeted by a missile attack while traversing the Red Sea on Thursday, for which the Yemen-based Houthi terrorist group has claimed responsibility.

The Olympic Spirit tanker was hit by “an unknown projectile” 70 nautical miles (80 miles) southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO)—a maritime monitoring component affiliated with the British navy—said in an update on Oct. 10.

The ship sustained damage from that attack, but it did not spark fires or cause any casualties, the UKMTO said.

Three additional projectiles later detonated “in close proximity” to the vessel, but the crew remained safe, it added.

The Iranian-backed Houthi group later claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that it had “directly and severely hit” the Olympic Spirit vessel with 11 ballistic missiles and two drones.

A Houthi spokesperson said the group also targeted a vessel named St. John in the Indian Ocean with “a winged missile” because the ship’s owner allegedly violated its ban on entering Israeli ports.

The Houthis did not specify the origin of the St. John ship.

These attacks came just days after U.S. forces conducted 15 strikes in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Oct. 4, which targeted Houthi “offensive military capabilities,” according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees U.S. forces in the Middle East.

CENTCOM said it conducted the strikes “to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition, and merchant vessels” operating in the region.

The Houthis have targeted numerous commercial ships since the escalation of the Israel–Hamas war in Gaza, which was sparked by the Hamas terrorist group’s large-scale attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Houthi terrorists have seized one vessel and sunk two others in a campaign that has led to four casualties.

The group said the attacks are targeting ships affiliated with Israel and that they will continue until the “siege on the Gaza Strip is lifted” and the attack on Lebanon stops.

On Oct. 1, Israeli forces said it had initiated “limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence” against Hezbollah rebels in southern Lebanon, specifically in villages near the border that “pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel.”

Hezbollah, another Iranian-backed terrorist group, began firing rockets into northern Israel after Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, forcing thousands of Israeli residents to flee their homes. Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire almost daily since.

The Israel Defense Forces ramped up its aerial campaign against Hezbollah in recent weeks, conducting dozens of strikes across Lebanon to degrade Hezbollah’s leadership and fighting capabilities. The Lebanese health ministry said that 22 people were killed and 117 were injured in Israeli airstrikes in Beirut on Oct. 10.

Chase Smith and Ryan Morgan contributed to this report.