According to maritime reports, gunmen on a speedboat opened fire on a tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday, threatening the trade channel after Yemeni Houthi forces advised ships not to sail to Israel.

According to Ambrey, a British maritime security company, and other reports, the speedboat also approached a second commercial vessel in the same vicinity, but it did not assault it.

Separately, a U.S. defense official in Washington said the U.S. Navy destroyer Mason on Wednesday shot down a Houthi drone launched from Yemen that was headed in its direction as it responded to reports of an attack on a commercial vessel.

The U.S. official said Houthis had attacked the commercial vessel Ardmore Encounter in skiffs and then two missiles were fired from Yemen that missed the ship. The Ardmore Encounter reported no damage or injuries and continued on its way.

It was not immediately known whether the Ardmore Encounter was the same as one of the ships earlier reported by maritime sources to have been targeted.

The Iran-aligned Houthi group has sought to support their Palestinian ally Hamas in the Gaza war by firing missiles at Israel and threatening shipping in the busy Bab al-Mandab Strait, next to Yemen at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.