Three people were killed and at least four were wounded, three critically, during a missile strike on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden. According to U.S. Central Command, the attack resulted in the first confirmed deaths of crew members since Houthi militants began a wave of attacks against commercial shipping in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.

The True Confidence, a bulk carrier, was struck early March 6, according to its owners and manager, adding that they had no information about the 20 crew members. The U.K. said the ship has been abandoned.

The Yemen-based Houthis claimed responsibility for the strike, adding that a fire broke out aboard the vessel. They described the carrier as “a U.S. ship,” which its owners and the Biden administration said isn’t true. 

Until recently, the vessel was owned by Los Angeles-based Oaktree Capital Management, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. A new owner took over in late February, according to the Equasis shipping registry. A representative for Oaktree declined to comment.

“The Houthis have killed innocent civilians by continuing their reckless attacks against international commercial shipping, which impacts countries throughout the world,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters in Washington. “The ship they attacked was a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier. It was not a U.S. ship, contrary to what the Houthis claimed.”

The attack represents the most severe human impact yet on vessels sailing through the region, including the Red Sea. Houthis have escalated their attacks on some vessels since November 2023, in what they say is a response to the Israel-Hamas war. Many commercial vessels are avoiding the region due to the attacks and U.S.-led strikes aimed at stopping the Houthis.

The Houthis said they will keep targeting ships linked to Israel, the U.S. and the UK in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea until Israel’s “aggression” in the Gaza Strip ends. 

Jean-Pierre said, “these reckless attacks by the Iran-backed Houthis have not only disrupted global trade and commerce, but also taken the lives of international seafarers simply doing their jobs.” She called on all governments to “join us in bringing to a halt these appalling attacks.”

Earlier this week, a missile caused a fire on a container vessel. The Houthis also recently claimed their first sinking of a ship, when the Rubymar finally went down after an attack in February.

The True Confidence was continuing to receive support from military forces in the region, the U.K. Navy said in a statement. It is owned by a company called True Confidence Shipping SA and operated by Third January Maritime Ltd., of Piraeus, Greece.

Houthi attacks have caused swaths of global shipping to avoid the region around the Red Sea, one of the world’s most important waterways for the trade of everything from oil to grain. Instead, ships are sailing thousands of miles around the coast of Africa, adding journey time and fuel costs to many goods. That in turn has left fewer ships to target in the region. 

The number of vessels arriving in the Gulf of Aden was down about 70% last week compared with the first part of December 2023, when attacks intensified, according to Clarkson Research Services Ltd, a unit of the world’s largest shipbroker. 

The True Confidence had earlier been proceeding through the regular transit route, before suddenly turning around and drifting, ship tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.