Houthi militias in Yemen have escalated attacks on ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, reaching a critical point with a missile hitting a British oil tanker on Friday. The resulting massive blaze on the Marlin Luanda took hours to control, raising fears of an environmental disaster if the tanker sank. The Marlin Luanda is operated on behalf of Trafigura, a multinational trading giant domiciled in Singapore. Earlier, Trafigura said a fire in the ship’s cargo tank had been extinguished with the help of Indian, US and French Navy vessels and all crew were safe.