Saudi confirms vessel hit in Red Sea; Yemen's Houthis claim attacks

A vessel belonging to a Saudi company was hit while transiting the Red Sea, Saudi state media reported Thursday citing an official source, after Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed it struck tankers in the waterway.

The source, quoted by state-run Saudi Press Agency, said "the vessel ENCELIA, belonging to a Saudi company, was targeted while sailing in the Red Sea, resulting in a fire at the bow of the ship" but that all crew members were safe.

Meanwhile, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said early on Thursday they had attacked two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea.

The Houthi attack in the Red Sea threatened to open a new front in a war that has roiled the global economy, sending prices for fuel and other goods surging across the world. With the standoff in the Gulf deepening, there were no signs of progress in diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

The Houthis said they had struck two tankers named Encelia and Layla in the Red Sea, leading to fires on both vessels. That would be their first reported attack on a vessel since they announced a blockade of Saudi-linked shipping through the Bab El Mandeb Strait earlier this week in retaliation for the kingdom’s blockade on Yemen and a recent attack on the international airport in Yemen’s rebel-held capital, Sanaa.

Bab El Mandeb, at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Around 12% of the world’s trade, including a fourth of global container traffic, passes through the narrows, moving between Europe and Asia via Egypt’s Suez Canal.

Saudi state media reported that the Encelia was set ablaze by an attack while sailing overnight in the Red Sea, citing an unidentified source from the General Authority of Transport. The Saudi Press Agency reported that a strike caused a fire at the bow of the ship, but no casualties. It did not mention the Layla.

Agencies