CAIRO/LOS ANGELES - Yemen’s Houthis said on April 27 their missiles hit the Andromeda Star oil tanker in the Red Sea, as they continued attacking commercial ships in the area in a show of support for Palestinians fighting Israel in the Gaza war.

The US Central Command confirmed that Iran-backed Houthis launched three anti-ship ballistic missiles into the Red Sea from Yemen, causing minor damage to the Andromeda Star.

The ship’s master reported damage to the vessel, British maritime security firm Ambrey said.

A missile landed in the vicinity of a second vessel, the MV Maisha, but it was not damaged, the US Central Command said on social media site X.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said the Panama-flagged Andromeda Star is British-owned, but shipping data shows it was recently sold, according to LSEG data and Ambrey.

Its current owner is Seychelles-registered.

The tanker is engaged in Russia-linked trade. It was en route from Primorsk, Russia, to Vadinar, India, Ambrey said.

Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab Strait and Gulf of Aden since November 2023, forcing shippers to re-route cargo to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa. The development has also stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilise the Middle East.

The attack on the Andromeda Star comes after a brief pause in the Houthis’ campaign that targets ships with ties to Israel, the US and Britain. 

The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier sailed out of the Red Sea via the Suez Canal on April 26 after assisting a US-led coalition to protect commercial shipping.

The Houthis said the same day that they downed an American MQ-9 drone in the airspace of Yemen’s Saada province. REUTERS