Missile attacks damage a ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen near previous attacks by Houthi rebels

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Greek-owned ship flying the Marshall Islands flag was damaged twice by missile attacks in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday. A private security company said radio traffic suggested the vessel took on water after the hit.

No group claimed responsibility for the incident, but suspicion fell on The Houthi rebels in Yemenwho have carried out a series of attacks on ships because of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The first attack, on the bulk carrier Laax, occurred off the port city of Hodeidah in the southern Red Sea, close to the Bab el-Mandeb strait that connects it to the Gulf of Aden, the UK’s maritime and trade center UKMTO said. The ship was “damaged” in the attack and later reported an “impact in the water in the immediate vicinity of the vessel,” the UKMTO said.

“The crew is safe and the ship is heading to its next port of call,” the center said.

The private security company Ambrey said the ship had reported by radio that it had “suffered damage to the cargo hold and was taking on water”.

Late Tuesday evening, the UKMTO reported that Laax had “suffered further damage” in a second rocket attack near Mokha in Bab el-Mandeb.

The US military’s Central Command also identified the attacked ship as the Laax. The ship said it was on its way to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.

Grehel Ship Management of Piraeus, Greece, manages the Laax. A man who answered the phone at Grehel declined to answer questions about the attack, and an emailed request for comment went unanswered.

The Central Command also said it had destroyed five Houthi drones over the Red Sea during the attacks.

The Houthis did not immediately admit to the attack, but it may take hours or even days for the rebels to claim responsibility for their attacks.

The Houthis have launched attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in recent months and are demanding that Israel War in the Gaza Stripwhich killed more than 36,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.

The Rebels have carried out more than 50 attacks According to the US Maritime Administration, authorities have hijacked one ship and sunk another since November.

Shipping traffic across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined due to the threat, but the pace of Houthi attacks has slowed in recent weeks. The rebels have claimed to have shot down US surveillance drones.

Yemen has been plagued by conflict since rebels seized the capital Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war on the side of Yemen’s government in exile in 2015, but the conflict has stalled for years as Riyadh tries to reach a peace deal with the Houthis.

In a speech in Dubai on Tuesday, the prime minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government in exile called on the world to ignore the Houthis’ claims that they are supporting the Palestinians in their attacks.

“The Houthis are exploiting a very just cause like that of our people in Palestine and what is happening in Gaza to bypass the benefits of peace and lead us into great complications,” Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak told the Arab Media Forum. “Peace is a strategic choice. We must achieve peace. The war must stop. This is a must. Our people need security and stability. The region itself needs stability.”