The group said it hit the tanker with a rocket because it was delivering crude oil to an Israeli terminal and after its crew ignored all warnings, Houthi military spokesperson Yehia Sarea said in a statement.

However the tanker's owner, Norway's Mowinckel Chemical Tankers, said the vessel was headed to Italy with a cargo of palm oil to be used in biofuels. It was not planning to stop in Israel, a company's spokesperson told Reuters.

The STRINDA had loaded vegetable oil and biofuels in Malaysia and was headed for Venice, data from shiptracking firm Kpler showed. The attack caused a fire and damage but no casualties, the US military said in a statement.