The ship was “targeted by three missiles about 54 nautical miles southwest of Hodeida,” Ambrey said.
The vessel emitted a distress signal “indicating that the cargo hold had been damaged and was filling with water”, she added, quoted by the French news agency AFP.
The number of victims and the ship’s flag are not yet known.
Yemeni rebels, backed by Iran, have been attacking Israel-bound ships in support of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as part of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.
The actions of the Huthis have forced many shipowners to suspend passage through the Red Sea shipping routes.
According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), container shipping through the Red Sea has fallen by almost 30% in a year.
Before the war, between 12% and 15% of world traffic passed through the Red Sea route, according to the European Union (EU).
At war for more than a decade, Yemen is considered the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula.
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