The new attack comes two weeks after a pro-Iranian group said it targeted three vessels and a US warship.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi group says it has attacked US and Israeli vessels, with a Western coalition of warships fighting back amid ongoing fallout from the Gaza war.
Yahya Saree, the group's military spokesman, said in a video late Wednesday that the Houthis had hit the cargo ship Maersk Yorktown in the Gulf of Aden.
The US military confirmed that the Houthis fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from their territory towards a vessel they identified as a “US-flagged vessel owned and operated with 18 American and four Greek crew members”.
“No injuries or damage were reported by US, coalition or commercial ships,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
Greece's Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday that one of its warships serving in the European Union's naval mission against the Houthis in the Red Sea intercepted two drones launched at a commercial ship from Yemen.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) had earlier confirmed the incident about 72 nautical miles (133 km) south-east of the port of Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden.
UKMTO WARNING CASE 064 – UPDATE 001
ATTACKhttps://t.co/fX3hWupPWO#MartimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/7NPjBjkPFs
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) April 24, 2024
Saree said the group targeted the Israeli ship MSC Veracruz in the Indian Ocean and fired projectiles at the US warship.
The US military said that within two hours of the attack on the Maersk Yorktown, its forces “successfully engaged and destroyed” four drones over Yemen.
“These measures are taken to protect freedom of navigation and to make international waters safer for US, coalition and commercial vessels,” it said.
The Houthis, who support the Palestinian armed group Hamas, have been launching attacks on vessels in waters near their shores since November, saying they want to stop Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
The group gradually expanded its attacks from ships linked to Israel to commercial vessels and warships owned by the US and the UK as Washington mobilized a naval coalition to defend against the attacks and, along with the British military, targeted Yemeni soil with numerous airstrikes.
In addition to seizing a commercial vessel in November and sinking a UK-owned ship in March, the Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping since November, according to the US Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have decreased in recent months as the group appears to have exhausted its stockpile of missiles and drones after dozens of attacks while suffering US and British airstrikes. The previous attacks claimed by the group came on April 10, when the group said it struck three ships linked to the US and Israel, along with a US warship.
The Houthi attacks have forced many vessels to opt out of the Red Sea to use the Suez Canal, instead detouring around southern Africa, lengthening their journeys by weeks and making them more expensive.