Two mariners injured in a missile attack off Yemen: Ship owner

Dubai: A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels set a ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, officials said, injuring two mariners as the crew abandoned the damaged vessel.

The owner of the Netherlands-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht described the damage done to the vessel as “substantial.” The ship caught fire in the attack. Spliethoff, the ship’s owner, said the crew were being evacuated by helicopter.

The French military says the Iranian-backed Houthis carried out the attack. The rebels have not claimed the assault, though it can take them hours or days to acknowledge their attacks. A missile attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels set a ship ablaze in the Gulf of Aden on Monday, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries. The attack hit the Netherlands-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht, which had been targeted in a failed assault last week as well by the Iranian-backed Houthis, according to the French military’s Maritime Information, Cooperation and Awareness Centre.

“At this time, the vessel is reported to be on fire,” the center said. A “warship is heading to the scene.” Local Yemeni media reported a possible ballistic missile launch from territory controlled by

the Houthis.