US Navy destroyer responds to mayday call of tanker under Houthi attack in Red Sea

A US Navy destroyer shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle in the Red Sea after responding to a mayday call from a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker that was under attack, the US Central Command said on Thursday.

The UAV was heading directly towards the Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) and was shot down in self-defense, the CENTCOM added.

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“At approximately 0830 (Sanaa time) on December 13, in the southern Red Sea, the Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) was responding to a mayday call from the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker Motor Vessel Ardmore Encounter, which was under attack from Houthi forces,” the US CENTCOM said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

When Houthi forces failed to board the tanker via skiffs, they also fired a pair of missiles from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen, which missed the vessel.

“There were no injuries to personnel and no damage to any vessels. The Ardmore Encounter was able to proceed without further incident,” the US CENTCOM said in a statement posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.

On Wednesday, maritime sources told Reuters that a tanker in the Red Sea off Yemen’s coast was fired on by gunmen in a speedboat and targeted with missiles, the latest incident to threaten the shipping lane after Yemeni Houthi forces warned ships not to travel to Israel.

A second commercial vessel was also approached by the speedboat in the same area though not attacked, British maritime security firm Ambrey and other sources said.

Separately, a US defense official in Washington said the US Navy destroyer Mason on Wednesday shot down a Houthi drone launched from Yemen that was headed in its direction as it responded to reports of an attack on a commercial vessel.

With Reuters

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