Ballistic missile strike on commercial vessel prompts USS Carney to shoot down drones

A US defense official said the USS Carney responded to a distress call from a civilian commercial vessel hit by a ballistic missile in the southern Red Sea on Sunday by shooting down two Houthi drones.

US Central Command announced Sunday evening that Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched four drone assaults on commercial boats. The USS Carney may have been targeted by drones.

The USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group's Arleigh-Burke-class destroyer Carney “destroyed” one Houthi drone in the southern Red Sea. The official said the Carney saw “at least one ballistic missile fired at a civilian commercial vessel, the M/V Unity Explorer, which landed in that vessel’s vicinity.”

The Carney assisted the Unity Explorer in trouble and fired down another Houthi drone flying at both ships.

US officials stated other commercial vessels were “attacked by Houthi missiles today,” but it's unclear how many or which. The US official said “at least two circumstances, the Carney successfully shot down UAVs headed in its direction” while providing support.

The Houthi-run Yemeni Armed troops said Sunday that its naval troops attacked “two Israeli ships” in the Bab al-Mandab strait.

Yemeni Armed Forces said Unity Explorer and Number Nine were fighting a naval missile and drone after disregarding warnings.

US Central Command called the attacks “a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security.”