This file photo shows the guided-missile destroyer USS Mason steams through the Atlantic Ocean.

An anti-ship cruise missile launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen struck a commercial tanker vessel, causing a fire and damage but no casualties, the US military said in a statement.

The attack on the tanker STRINDA took place about 60 nautical miles (111km) north of the Bab Al Mandab Strait connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden at about 2100 GMT, a US official told the media. A second US official said the STRINDA was able to move under its own power in the hours after the attack.

"There were no US ships in the vicinity at the time of the attack, but the (US Navy destroyer) USS MASON responded to the M/T STRINDA's mayday call and is currently rendering assistance," the US military's Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said in a statement posted on social media platform X.

The chemical tanker is Norway flagged, and its Norwegian owner, Mowinckel Chemical Tankers, and manager Hansa Tankers could not be immediately reached for comment outside office hours.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have waded into the Israel-Hamas conflict — which has spread around the Middle East since Oct. 7 — attacking vessels in vital shipping lanes and firing drones and missiles at Israel itself.

Reuters