A Yemen Houthi attack targets vessel in waters farther away than many previous assaults

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Monday targeted a ship farther away from nearly all of the previous assaults they've launched in the Gulf of Aden, potentially part of a widening escalation by the group.

The attack comes as the U.S. has sent the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower back home after an eight-month deployment in which it led the American response to the Houthi assaults. Those attacks have reduced shipping drastically through the route crucial to Asian, Middle East and European markets in a campaign the Houthis say will continue as long as the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip rages on.

The attack happened Monday morning in the Gulf of Aden some 450 kilometers (280 miles) southeast of Nishtun, a town in the far reaches of Yemen that's close to the border with Oman, according to the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center. That region for long has been held by forces allied to Yemen's exiled government, which has battled the Houthis since the rebels took the capital, Sanaa, back in 2014.

The attack was just off to the northeast of Yemen's Socotra Island, also held by allies of the exiled government.

“The master of a merchant vessel reports an explosion in close proximity to the vessel,” the UKMTO said. “The crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call.”

The Joint Maritime Information Center, which is overseen by the U.S. Navy, identified the vessel attacked as the Liberian-flagged, Greek-managed container ship MSC Sarah V, which is bound for Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

“The vessel was not hit and all crew on board are safe,” it said. “JMIC assesses that the vessel was likely attacked due to perceived Israeli association.”

Another MSC-associated vessel, the...