US Conducts 6 Defense Strikes After Houthis Target Singapore-Owned Vessel

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

The U.S. military said that it conducted six strikes in self-defense against Houthi targets on Monday after the Iranian-backed group launched missiles at a Singapore-owned ship traversing the Red Sea.

The strikes launched between 2.50 p.m. and 11.30 p.m. (local time) on March 11, destroyed an unmanned underwater vessel and 18 anti-ship missiles in Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

CENTCOM said that the “weapons presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.”

“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S. Navy and merchant vessels,” the U.S. military stated.

Just hours before the strikes occurred, Houthi terrorists fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at the Pinocchio merchant vessel—a Liberian-flagged ship owned by a Singapore-registered company—in the Red Sea.

The missiles did not strike the vessel, and no injuries or damage have been reported following the incident, according to CENTCOM.

Houthi officials have claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said that the missiles did hit the merchant ship, which he described as “American.”

He vowed that the Houthis would escalate their operations in the Red Sea during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in solidarity with Palestinians in response to the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. The threat comes just a week after the Houthis killed three crew members of the Barbados-flagged, Greek-operated vessel True Confidence in an attack off the port of Aden on March 6, marking the first civilian casualties since the terrorist group began its Red Sea attacks.

CENTCOM said in an update last week that U.S. and coalition forces downed at least 28 unmanned aerial vehicles belonging to the Houthis between 4 a.m. and 8.20 a.m. (local time) on March 9.

“No U.S. or Coalition Navy vessels were damaged in the attack and there were also no reports by commercial ships of damage,” the update stated.

For months, Houthi terrorists have harassed international shipments with drone and missile attacks. They insisted these attacks are targeting vessels linked to Israel and its allies and are in response to Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip.

Most of these Houthi attacks on international merchant crews have missed their targets or have been intercepted, though a few have caused damage to vessels transiting the Gulf of Aden and the adjoining Red Sea shipping lanes.

On Feb. 18, a Houthi missile struck the British-owned bulk carrier ship called the Rubymar, causing severe damage that forced the crew to abandon the ship.

A Tomahawk land attack missile (TLAM) is launched from USS Gravely against Houthi targets in Yemen, on Feb. 3, 2024. U.S. Central Command/Handout via Reuters

The Rubymar remained adrift for nearly two weeks before it finally sank on March 2, making it the first vessel the terror group has sunk in its pressure campaign against Israel and the West.

The U.S. government has intermittently characterized the Houthis as a terrorist organization.

The Yemeni faction was listed as a foreign terrorist organization (FTO) and as a specially designated global terrorist entity (SDGT) in the final days of then-President Donald Trump’s presidency in January 2021.

Belize-flagged ship Rubymar in the Red Sea, on Friday, March 1, 2024. Maxar Technologies via AP

President Joe Biden’s administration revoked the terrorism labels in February of 2021 but reapplied the SDGT designation against the group in January, as the Houthi attacks on maritime traffic continued.

Ryan Morgan and Reuters contributed to this report.