Helicopters are used by militants thought to be Houthi rebels to take over a Japanese tanker in the Red Sea.

According to three U.S. officials, militants thought to be Houthi rebels with Iranian support hijacked a Japanese cargo ship in the southern Red Sea via a helicopter raid.

The officials claim that at approximately 1:00 PM local time on Sunday, a helicopter circled over the Galaxy Leader, a ship flying the Bahamian flag and owned by Japan, and a number of armed people descended to the deck.

The Houthis released an image with the caption, “We will sink your ships,” in Hebrew, Arabic, and English just a few days prior to the attack off the coast of Yemen. The image displayed a burning commercial ship owned by Israel.

The International Maritime Security Construct, a global organization that works to uphold security in regional waters, warned all sailors in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb passage between Yemen and Djibouti on November 16 due to the threat, but it omitted any mention of the Houthis. The advisory advised ships to avoid Yemeni waters at all costs and suggested traveling at night whenever feasible.

An inquiry for comment was forwarded to the Pentagon by a representative of the U.S. Navy’s forces in the area.

“We’re aware of the situation and are monitoring it closely,” a U.S. defense official stated.

A task force has been established by Galaxy Leader’s operator, NYK Line, to “gather information and to ensure the safety of the 25 crew members on board the chartered vessel,” according to an NBC News translation of the company’s statement.

The statement from NYK Line stated that the ship, which was headed for India, had no cargo when it was apprehended close to the Hodeidah coast in Yemen.
“The Houthi’s hijacking of the cargo ship near Yemen in the southern Red Sea is a very serious event on a global level,” an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson stated via X. This ship, which has an international civilian crew on its way to India, sailed from Turkey without any Israeli crew members.

A Defense Department spokesman said that on October 19, a U.S. Navy warship shot down three cruise missiles and several drones that were fired from Yemen and were “potentially towards Israel.”

According to Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the USS Carney shot down the missiles and over a dozen drones while it was in the northern Red Sea.

According to two U.S. officials, on October 31, militants thought to be Houthi rebels fired a medium-range ballistic missile from Yemen toward Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that the missile was intercepted by Israel’s Arrow air defense system, which was developed in collaboration with the United States. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) verified that a surface-to-surface missile had been fired from the Red Sea toward Israeli territory; however, they did not state if the missile had come from Yemen.