An Israeli-owned container ship has been hit in a suspected drone attack in the Indian Ocean, according to a United States defence official.
The attack was likely carried out using an Iranian-made Shahed-136 drone on Friday, an unnamed US defence official said.
It targeted a Malta-flagged, French-operated CMA CGM Symi vessel in international waters which reportedly suffered damage after the drone exploded, but no crew members were injured.
The US official did not provide any evidence of an Iranian link to the attack, and said “we continue to monitor the situation closely”.
Iran has not commented on the reports.
Maritime security company Ambrey said in the days before the attack, the ship’s tracking transmissions had stopped shortly after departing port in the United Arab Emirates.
“The vessel was managed by an Israeli-affiliated company, which was assessed to be the reason why it was targeted,” Ambrey said.
Iranian-aligned Houthis in Yemen have launched several rounds of missile and drone attacks on southern Israel since Israel declared war on Gaza last month in the wake of a Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials.
So far, the Israeli bombardment has killed about 15,000 Palestinians, including more than 6,150 children, Palestinian officials say.
Earlier this week, the Houthis also took control of a ship on Yemen’s Red Sea coast which they said was Israeli. But Israel described it as a British-owned and Japanese-operated cargo vessel with no Israeli nationals on board.
Iran and Israel have been engaged in a shadow war for years that has also included past claims of Iranian involvement in attacks on Israeli-owned ships. Tehran has officially denied orchestrating such attacks in the past.
