Private security firm says missile fire seen off the Yemen coast in the Red Sea near crucial strait

JERUSALEM (AP) — Missiles suspected to have been fired by Yemen’s Houthi rebels landed a distance away from a ship traveling through the Red Sea on Friday, a private security firm said.

The attack follows an uptick in assaults launched by the Houthis in recent days after a relative lull in their monthslong campaign over Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The private security firm Ambrey said three missiles could be seen in the attack, which landed closest to a Panama-flagged, Seychelles-registered tanker it described as being “engaged in Russia-linked trade.” The vessel was traveling from Primorsk, Russia, to Vadinar, India, Ambrey said.

Those details corresponded to a tanker called the Andromeda Star, which had been previously broadcasting its location off Mocha, Yemen, according to ship-tracking data.

The Houthis did not immediately claim the missile fire, though it typically takes the rebels several hours to acknowledge their attacks. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center also reported the attack off Mocha.