The US Central Command (Centcom) has said the US destroyer Mason responded yesterday to a distress call from the tanker Ardmore Encounter after it was attacked by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi group in the southern Red Sea, Al Jazeera reports.

Houthi forces initially tried to board the tanker Ardmore Encounter but failed and fired two missiles at the ship without hitting their target, according to Centcom.

The destroyer shot down a drone launched from Houthi-controlled areas towards it and shot it down without causing injuries or damage to ships.