Video footage shows the moment Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched an explosive-laden drone boat into a British oil tanker in the Red Sea.

Footage released by the Houthi group shows a massive explosion taking place at the side of the Cordelia Moon, damaging its port side tank and causing it to be engulfed by plumes of smoke.

The attack took place around 110km (70 miles) off the port city of Hodeidah, in Yemen, and targeted the Panama-flagged oil tanker’s buoyancy on Tuesday.

A captain on a nearby ship reported four “splashes” near the vessel, the centre overseen by the US Navy said, which likely would have been missiles launched at the vessel that missed.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels later claimed the attack, saying it was hit with eight ballistic and winged missiles, a drone and an uncrewed surface boat.

A second Suez-bound vessel, a Liberia-flagged bulker, was damaged after it was hit by a missile about 97 nautical miles northwest of Hodeidah, British security firm Ambrey and maritime security sources said.

Both vessels reported that their crews were safe.

The attacks were the rebels’ first assaults on commercial shipping in weeks as war between Israel and Lebanon threatens to spill out into a wider regional war.

It also came after the Houthis threatened “escalating military operations” against Israel on Monday after its forces apparently shot down an American military drone flying over Yemen.