Suspected Houthi attacks target a ship in Gulf of Aden and Israeli port city of Eilat

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Suspected attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels early Wednesday targeted a ship in the Gulf of Aden and the southern Israeli port city of Eilat, authorities said.

The attacks follow the departure of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower after an eight-month deployment in which the aircraft carrier 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.

The ship attack happened off the coast of Aden, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said.

The captain “of a merchant vessel reported a missile impacted the water 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.”