AL-MUKALLA: Yemen’s Houthis have attacked two ships in the Red Sea and claimed responsibility for shooting down a US drone over the country, as the EU joined other international powers to work to protect the Red Sea from the group’s assaults.

Ambrey, a UK marine security service, said on Monday that a missile launched by the Houthis in Yemen struck a US-owned cargo ship in the Red Sea, around 93 nautical miles east of Aden. The UK Maritime Trade Operations also received a warning on Monday concerning an assault 100 nautical miles east of Aden, with no reports of casualties or significant damage.

“Master initially reported an explosion in close proximity to the vessel. Subsequently, the Master reported a 2nd explosion in the air and in close proximity to the vessel. Master reports evidence of shrapnel and damage to paintwork,” the UKMTO said in a notice.

The strike on the US-owned ship happened hours after the Houthis launched missiles which damaged a bulk carrier named Rubymar in the Red Sea, causing the ship to almost sink and forcing its crew members to evacuate. Ambrey said on Sunday that the general cargo ship, registered in the UK and managed from Lebanon, was targeted in the Bab Al-Mandab Strait.

According to the MarineTraffic app, which records ship movements and locations, the Belize-flagged ship left Saudi Arabia’s Ras Al-Khair Industrial Port on Feb. 2 and was heading to Varna, Bulgaria. On Sunday, the UKMTO reported an incident 35 nautical miles south of the Yemeni town of Mocha, in which the ship’s crew abandoned it.

In a television statement on Monday morning, Houthi military spokesman Yahiya Sarae said that the militia’s naval forces fired missiles at the “British” Rubymar ship which “directly” struck it, inflicting significant damage. Sarae also claimed the group shot down a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen’s western province of Hodeidah.

Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship and fired hundreds of missiles and drones at other commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Bab Al-Mandab Strait, preventing any Israel-bound ships from passing through the Suez Canal. The Houthis say their strikes are intended to push Israel to cease military operations in the Gaza Strip.

The US and a number of allies have launched hundreds of retaliatory strikes on Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The increase in Houthi strikes comes as the EU said on Monday that it would start a mission in the Red Sea to defend international maritime traffic from Houthi attacks, joining the US and other nations with substantial naval presences.

“I welcome today’s decision to launch the EU Naval Force Operation Aspides. Europe will ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, working alongside our international partners,” President of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on X.

The US Embassy in Yemen warned on Monday that Houthi attacks on ships would trigger an environmental calamity off the country’s coast, just after an international effort to defuse the danger posed by the stranded FSO Safer oil tanker in the Red Sea.

“Reckless Houthi attacks on ships and oil tankers could cause an ecological disaster in #Yemen, even after the world came together to rescue the FSO Safer. Houthis should stop putting Yemeni livelihoods at risk!” the embassy said in a statement.

Experts say that the increase in Houthi attacks demonstrates that the group is unaffected by US terror sanctions or US and UK strikes on targets in Yemen.

“It demonstrates that the Houthis are inflamed and empowered, rather than reined in, by designation, sanctions and military action,” Elisabeth Kendall, a Middle East expert and mistress of Girton College at Cambridge University, told Arab News.

She added that the latest strikes are part of a Houthi strategy to apply pressure on the US and its allies and that Red Sea tensions will not subside soon. “This could be seen as part of a pre-planned program of escalation designed to gradually ramp up pressure on America and its allies. What is clear is that this is unlikely to end any time soon,” she said.