Houthis say they launched missile at Israeli-linked tanker near Saudi Arabia's Yanbu

LONDON (Reuters) -Yemen's Houthis said on Monday they launched a missile towards the Israeli-owned tanker Scarlet Ray near Saudi Arabia's Red Sea port city of Yanbu in a rare attack off the Saudi coast.

The Liberia-flagged vessel's Singapore-based manager, Eastern Pacific Shipping, owned by Israeli magnate Idan Ofer, said the chemical tanker was undamaged and under the command of its captain.

"We are aware of security reports alleging that our managed vessel Scarlet Ray was the target of a suspected Houthi attack," Eastern Pacific said in a statement on Monday, adding that all crew members were safe and accounted for.

Britain's maritime agency UKMTO said on Sunday it had received a report of an incident from a captain who witnessed "a splash in close proximity to their vessel from an unknown projectile and heard a loud bang" 40 nautical miles southwest of Yanbu.

UKMTO did not identify the party responsible, but said authorities were investigating.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have launched multiple attacks on vessels in the Red Sea since 2023 that they deem to be linked with Israel in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in the war in Gaza.

Attacks near Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast, which is further north, have been rare in recent years. Any Houthi targeting of vessels along this coast will raise alarm as crucial energy exports are transported to global markets from Saudi terminals.

"While … the projectile did not impact the vessel, the strike demonstrates a clear show of strength," said Ellie Shafik, head of intelligence with UK-based maritime risk management company Vanguard Tech.

"It is too early to determine whether this represents a broader strategy of escalation, or is a one-off response to the Israeli targeting of Houthi ministers. However, Saudi Arabia is unlikely to tolerate repeated strikes occurring so close to its … territory."

The prime minister of Yemen's Houthi-run government and several other ministers were killed in an Israeli strike on the capital Sanaa, the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council said on Saturday, in the first such attack to kill senior officials.

Saudi Arabia led a coalition that launched a military campaign in Yemen from early 2015 to support the Gulf-backed government against the Houthis, who had seized the capital Sanaa in 2014.

The coalition has in the past foiled attempted assaults using explosive-laden boats it says were launched by the Houthis.

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Jaidaa Taha, Ahmed Tolba, Tala Ramadan and Nayera Abdallah; Editing by Diane Craft, Kim Coghill and Ros Russell)