The US military disclosed that it was one of its warships that rushed to assist an Ardmore Shipping tanker, which came under Houthi attack off Yemen on 13 December.
In a tweet early on Thursday, the US Central Command (Centcom) also disclosed that the USS Mason was probably targeted during the incident.
While responding to the distress call issued by the 49,500-dwt Ardmore Encounter (built 2014), the USS Mason shot down an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) launched from Houthi-controlled areas.
“The UAV was heading directly towards the Mason and was shot down in self-defence,” US Centcom said.
This is the first time that US authorities’ language suggests that the Houthis directly attacked one of their warships patrolling the area.
After a similar incident on 3 December that involved the USS Carney, another US maritime asset off Yemen, a Pentagon spokeswoman had denied that the Houthis directly attacked the destroyer.
Any direct Houthi action against US vessels increases the risk of the war between Israel and Hamas widening to become a regional conflict.
The Houthi regime, which controls large swathes of Yemen, cites Israel’s war as the reason why it started last month hijacking or attacking commercial vessels, which it believes to be controlled by Israeli interests or calling at Israeli ports.
The Ardmore Encounter has been the most recent victim of such attacks in the Red Sea.
After the ship ignored Houthi calls to change its northbound course, rebel forces unsuccessfully attempted to board the tanker on skiffs, exchanging fire with the ship’s armed guards.
After that attempt failed, the Houthis fired two missiles in the Ardmore Encounter’s direction.
According to the US Centcom account released on Thursday, both missiles missed the tanker.
This information slightly diverges from initial reports provided by maritime intelligence firms on Wednesday, according to which only the second missile missed the Ardmore Encounter after the first one was shot down by an unidentified warship.
The Houthi attack caused no damage or injuries to either the Ardmore Encounter or the USS Mason.
The tanker, which Ardmore says is carrying jet fuel from India to the Netherlands and Sweden, continued its course.
The Houthis are not known to have made any comment on the incident.
The USS Mason is an Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer.
The US is not the only country sending warships to patrol the area.
Earlier this week, the French frigate Languedoc intercepted and shot down a Houthi drone that was “directly menacing” the 20,000-dwt Norwegian-owned tanker Strinda (built 2006).
