Crew battle blaze on tanker hit by missile in Gulf of Aden

The tanker Marlin Luanda was on fire but no deaths or injuries were reported after the vessel was struck by a Houthi anti-ship missile in the Gulf of Aden on Friday, commodities trader Trafigura and the U.S. military reported.

"Firefighting equipment on board is being deployed to suppress and control the fire caused in one cargo tank on the starboard side," Trafigura said in a statement, adding it was in contact with the petroleum products tanker.

The U.S. military said earlier that a U.S. Navy ship and other vessels were providing assistance after the Marlin Luanda was hit by a Houthi anti-ship missile.

The Marshall Islands-flagged Marlin Luanda issued a distress call and reported damage, U.S. Central Command said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. The USS Carney and other coalition ships were providing assistance to the tanker, it said.

About eight hours later, the U.S. military destroyed a Houthi anti-ship missile that was aimed into the Red Sea and ready to launch, Central Command said.

The missile "presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and the U.S. Navy ships in the region," it said.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched waves of exploding drones and missiles at vessels since Nov. 19, in response to Israel's military operations in Gaza.

Some shipping companies have suspended transits through the Red Sea and taken much longer, costlier journeys around Africa.

U.S. and British warplanes, ships and submarines have launched dozens of retaliatory airstrikes across Yemen against Houthi forces.

The Houthi's Al-Masira television said on Saturday that the United States and Britain launched two airstrikes that targeted the port of Ras Issa, Yemen's main oil export terminal.

It was not clear if this was the strike referred to by Central Command, and the U.S. Fifth Fleet did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The British Defence Ministry declined to comment.