Yemen's Houthi rebels on Tuesday claimed they targeted the Maersk Sentosa ship in the Arabian sea with several ballistic and wing missiles, Reuters reported. "The American ship Maersk Sentosa was targeted in the Arabian Sea by naval forces and missile force in a joint operation," Yahya Sarea, the Yemeni group's military spokesperson, said in a televised speech. Sarea also said the group targeted the Marathopolis ship in the Arabian Sea and the MSC Patnaree ship in the Gulf of Aden, which he claimed is an Israeli vessel, with a number of drones. Earlier on Tuesday, shipping giant Maersk said one of its vessels, the Maersk Sentosa, reported being targeted by a flying object in the north of the Gulf of Aden. A spokesperson for the Copenhagen-based company said the ship was one of its US-flagged vessels sailing for the subsidiary Maersk Line, Limited. The Iranian-backed Houthis have launched several drones towards southern Israel in recent months. In addition, they have been targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea region since November, in what they say are attacks in solidarity with Palestinian Arabs in Gaza. Last week, the Houthis claimed they conducted four military operations targeting four ships in the Red, Arabian and Mediterranean Seas as well as the Indian Ocean, which they said were "linked to the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel". Two weeks ago, the Houthis said they had used a new ballistic missile to hit the MSC Sarah V vessel in the Arabian Sea. Previously, Al Jazeera TV published footage showing an attack by the Houthi rebels in the Red Sea against the MV Tutor ship. The Houthis had claimed that the ship was attacked because its owner ignored warnings not to sail to Israeli ports. Related articles: US targets Russia network aiding Houthis with arms, grain US deploys B-2 bombers and carrier strike groups Haaretz columnist sits down with antisemitic podcast host 'For Houthis and Iran, the real pain is yet to come' In the wake of the uptick in Houthi attacks, the US formed a coalition , made up of more than 20 countries, aimed at safeguarding commercial traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by the Houthis. In mid-January, with support from other countries, the US and Britain targeted just under 30 Houthi locations with 150 different weapons. They have since carried out several rounds of strikes against Houthi targets.
