USS Carney, French warship assist burning tanker after Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile attack

The USS Carney assisted a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker on Saturday after it caught fire following a Houthi ballistic missile attack, a senior U.S. official told Fox News. 

The hours-long blaze was extinguished after the destroyer Carney and a French warship transferred more than 100 cans of firefighting foam to the M/V Marlin Luanda in the Gulf of Aden. 

The fire threatened to engulf the ship carrying liquid hydrogen, if not for the swift help from the Americans and French, the official said. 

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The Iranian anti-ship missile hit cargo bay five on the Marlin Luanda, and it could have spread to nearly a dozen more bays. 

No one was injured in the attack, but the ship was heavily damaged. 

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The Houthis said the attack on the Marlin Luanda, which has British ties, was in response to American and British aggression.

The last time Iranians hit a ship that was carrying flammable cargo was in 2019, and the fire burned for four days.

The attack on the Marlin Luanda is the 38th by the Houthis directed at commercial vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since Nov. 19.

Early Saturday morning, the U.S. said it acted in self-defense when it destroyed a Houthi anti-ship missile in Yemen that was aimed at the Red Sea, according to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

And on Friday, the Carney “successfully shot down” a ballistic missile fired by the Houthis at the destroyer, CENTCOM said. 

The Iranian-backed Houthis have said they are launching attacks in support of the Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war, which has prompted the U.S. to launch counterstrikes against Houthi targets. 

Fox News’ Stephanie Bennett and the Associated Press contributed to this report.