Key Points
- Yemen's Houthi rebels say they have attacked two 'Israeli-linked' vessels in the Red Sea.
- The US Defence Secretary has warned Iran to stop supporting the attacks.
- The owner of one of the vessels attacked says it has "no Israeli link" and is managed by a Singaporean firm.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they had attacked two "Israeli-linked" vessels in the Red Sea in solidarity with Gaza, as more companies halt transit through the troubled but vital waterway.
The attacks on the Norwegian-owned Swan Atlantic and another ship identified by the Houthis as the MSC Clara are the latest in a flurry of maritime incidents that are disrupting global trade in an attempt to pressure Israel over its war against Hamas militants.
Speaking from Israel, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Iran to stop supporting the Houthi attacks.
In a statement, the Yemeni rebels said they had carried out a "military operation against two ships linked to the Zionist entity" using naval drones.
They vowed to "continue to prevent all ships heading to Israeli ports... from navigating in the Arab and Red Seas" until more food and medicine is allowed into Gaza.
But the Swan Atlantic's owner, Norway's Inventor Chemical Tankers, said in a statement the ship was carrying biofuel feedstock from France to Reunion Island.
It said the vessel has "no Israeli link" and was managed by a Singaporean firm, adding that the Indian crew were unharmed and the vessel sustained limited damage.
British oil giant BP became the latest to suspend transit through the Red Sea, while Taiwan shipping giant Evergreen said it was suspending its Israeli cargo shipments with immediate effect.
Frontline, one of the world's largest tanker companies, also said it was rerouting ships and would "only allow new business" that could be routed via South Africa's Cape of Good Hope.
That route is far longer and uses more fuel.
The Red Sea attacks have forced insurance companies to significantly increase premiums on ships, making it uneconomical for some to transit through the Suez Canal.
Italian-Swiss giant Mediterranean Shipping Company, France's CMA CGM, Germany's Hapag-Lloyd, Belgium's Euronav and Denmark's A.P Moller-Maersk - the latter accounting for 15 per cent of global container freight - have all stopped using the Red Sea until further notice.
The attacks have become "a maritime security crisis" with "commercial and economic implications in the region and beyond," Torbjorn Soltvedt of analysis firm Verisk Maplecroft told AFP.
A Royal Navy warship has shot down a suspected attack drone targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea, Britain's defense secretary said. Source: AAP / HMS Diamond
A US destroyer shot down 14 drones in the Red Sea launched from rebel-controlled areas of Yemen, the US military said.
Britain said one of its destroyers had also brought down a suspected attack drone in the area.
Rebel spokesman Mohammed Abdul Salam said neutral Oman had launched mediation efforts to safeguard shipping using the waterway.
Israel has bombarded Gaza since Hamas' 7 October attack in which more than 1,200 people, including an estimated 30 children, were killed and over 200 hostages taken, according to the Israeli government.
More than 19,450 people have been killed in Gaza since 7 October, according to the health ministry in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
The 7 October attack was a significant escalation in the long-standing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
