A top US admiral says a US warship has come under fire in the Red Sea from multiple cruise missiles fired off the coast of Yemen.

A top US admiral says a US warship has for the third time in a week, come under fire in the Red Sea from multiple cruise missiles fired off the coast of Yemen.

The website Military.com quoted Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson as saying that the guided missile destroyer USS Mason has deployed electronic countermeasures to foil the attack and was not hit in Saturday’s incident –the third such attack on US naval vessels in the area in the past week.

The incidents, along with an Oct. 1 strike on a vessel from the United Arab Emirates and the Oct. 12 failed strike on a US Navy destroyer, add to questions about safety of passage for military ships around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes.

The Houthi militia appeared to use small skiffs as spotters to help direct the missile attack on the warship. The United States is also investigating the possibility that a radar station under Houthi control in Yemen might have also “painted” the USS Mason, something that would have helped the Houthi militants pass along coordinates for a strike, the officials have said.

The Houthis, who are allied to Hadi’s predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh, have the support of many army units and control most of the north including the capital Sanaa.

On Thursday, Iran deployed two warships to the Red Sea, but insisted the move was aimed at preventing piracy in the vital shipping lanes.

[vuukle]