The overnight assault on the Lobivia cargo ship came as Houthis
also claimed responsibility for a fiery, long-range aerial drone strike in the
center of Tel Aviv that killed one man and wounded four others.
The Houthis in recent weeks have become more adept at
inflicting damage on their targets. In June, they struck the Greek-owned
Tutor coal carrier with missiles and an explosive-laden remote-controlled boat,
causing it to sink.
"Their capacity, their access to more sophisticated
weapons, has only increased over the course of this conflict," said Gerald
Feierstein, director of the Arabian Peninsula Affairs Program at the Middle
East Institute in Washington.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree in a television speech
on Friday said the group launched the Lobivia strikes, adding that the assault
also included drones. The manager of Lobivia did not immediately comment.
Lobivia was in the Gulf of Aden when the missiles struck two
areas on its port side, the Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said in an
incident report.
The ship was located 83 nautical miles southeast of Yemen's
port city of Aden during the attack. All crew are reported safe and the ship
was returning to its last port of call, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade
Operations (UKMTO) said.
"The ship was transiting northeast along the Gulf of
Aden when a merchant vessel in the vicinity observed 'light and blast' where
the ship was located," British security firm Ambrey said.
The ship appeared to perform evasive manoeuvres immediately
and switch off her automatic identification system approximately an hour later,
Ambrey said.
On Tuesday, the Houthis hit the Liberia-flagged oil
tanker Chios Lion with a drone boat, causing damage to the port side
that left an oily trail that experts said appeared to be fuel.
Britain and the US have conducted retaliatory strikes since
February, shooting down drones and bombing attack sites in Yemen.
That has come at a significant cost, said Feierstein, who
was the US Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen from 2010 to 2013 under
President Barack Obama.
"We're basically spending a million dollars every time
we shoot down a Radio Shack drone. That's wearing on the Navy and wearing on
our supplies," he said.
