The Saudi-flagged "Wafa" was targeted with “a number of ballistic missiles,” making it the eighth vessel the Houthis say they have struck since announcing a blockade of Saudi Arabia on July 22, according to spokesman Yahya Saree.

The Houthis said the ship was hit while it was off the coast of Yanbu, a Saudi Arabian city roughly 650 miles from the country's border with Yemen.

Saree said the Houthis will escalate attacks in the northern Red Sea, where Saudi Arabia is diverting oil tankers to avoid strikes in the southern Red Sea and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.

Saudi Arabia has not publicly acknowledged the latest attack, but it has previously retaliated with airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.