Iranian-backed Houthis on Monday hit a Swiss-owned, Liberian-flagged container vessel in the Gulf of Aden with an anti-ship ballistic missile fired from Yemen, the U.S. military said.

Houthi militants fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V MSC SKY II at around 4 p.m. (1300 GMT), the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

The vessel is managed by the world’s largest container shipping company, Swiss-based MSC.

“One of the missiles impacted the vessel causing damage. Initial reports indicate there were no injuries; the ship did not request assistance and continued on its way,’’ CENTCOM said.

The U.S. command also reported that Houthi militants fired a separate anti-ship ballistic missile into the southern Red Sea a couple of hours earlier, hitting water.

Later in the day its forces “conducted self-defence strikes against two anti-ship cruise missiles that presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region,’’ CENTCOM continued.

The Islamist militia has vowed to attack ships in the Red Sea linked to Israel.

However, many of the ships that have come under fire have no connection to the country.

The Houthis say they want to force an end to the Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, which followed the unprecedented massacre by the Palestinian Islamist organisation Hamas in Israel on October 7.

Because of the continuing Houthi attacks, major shipping companies including MSC are increasingly avoiding the shortest sea route between Asia and Europe and sailing around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope instead.

 (dpa/NAN)