Adds comments by Houthis in paragraphs 3, 7
Yemen's Houthi militants fired two missiles at a Singapore-owned merchant vessel in the Red Sea on 11 March, marking the second attack on a Singapore-owned ship in less than a week.
The missiles did not hit the Liberia-flagged Pinocchio and there were no injuries or damage, the US Central Command (CentCom) said on 12 March. The attack took place between 8.50am (05:50 GMT) and 12.50pm Sana'a time on 11 March. The UK Maritime Trade Operations received a report of the incident 71 nautical miles southwest of Saleef, Yemen.
The Houthis said they had launched "a number of suitable naval missiles" towards the Pinocchio and that "the hit was accurate." The Houthis also labelled the vessel as "American".
CentCom separately said it carried out six self-defence strikes between 2.50pm and 11.30pm Sana'a time on 11 March, destroying an unmanned underwater vessel and 18 anti-ship missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
The Houthis on 8 March fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen into the Gulf of Aden at the Propel Fortune, a Singapore-flagged, owned and operated vessel. There were no injuries or damage, CentCom said.
The militant group also recorded a first fatal strike on commercial shipping last week when they attacked the True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden.
The Houthis said that their "military operations" in the Red Sea "will escalate" during the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan that began on 11 March in several countries in the Mideast Gulf.
Such attacks by the Houthi militants have prompted many vessels to take the longer and more expensive route around the Cape of Good Hope, driving up freight rates.
