A U.S. Navy destroyer is helping a Norwegian-operated oil tanker after it was struck by a cruise missile launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.

It was the latest incident in a series of attacks on commercial vessels passing through the crucial Bab el-Mandeb chokepoint in the Red Sea, U.S. military officials said Tuesday.

U.S. Central Command said the motor tanker Strinda was bound for the Suez Canal when it was hit. There were no reported injuries, but the attack caused a fire that damaged the ship, officials said.

“There were no U.S. ships in the vicinity at the time of the attack, but the USS Mason responded to the M/T Strinda’s mayday call and is currently rendering assistance,” Central Command said Tuesday on social media.

The Iran-backed Houthis said they launched a missile at the Strinda because it was bringing oil to Israel, but that allegation has not been confirmed. A spokesman for the Houthi rebels said they didn’t target the ship until the crew refused to respond to a warning.

“The Yemeni armed forces confirm that they continue to prevent all ships of all nationalities heading to Israeli ports from navigating in the Arab and Red seas until they bring in the food and medicine that our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip need,” the Houthi spokesman, Yahya Sare’e, said Tuesday on X.

President Trump designated the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization in 2020, but that label was removed when President Biden took office.

“The Biden administration’s weakness invites this kind of hostility,” Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the top GOP member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Tuesday on social media.

• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.