A merchant ship made a radio distress call saying it had been hit by a missile, likely fired by Houthi rebels.
An attack allegedly by Houthi rebels caused a fire on a ship in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, the British Army’s Maritime Commercial Operations (UKMTO) center said.
Private security company Ambrey said a merchant ship made a radio distress call indicating it had been hit by a missile. This one”was en route from Malaysia to Venice, Italy”and was “aligned with Houthi target profile” added the security company without further details.
Later in the day, the UKMTO reported a second suspected attack off Yemen’s port city of Hodeida, but said the explosion occurred far from the ship and did not damage it.
The Houthis have not yet claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attacks, but it usually takes several hours or even days for them to confirm them.
The Houthis, who seized Yemen’s capital nearly a decade ago and have recently been fighting a Saudi-led coalition, are targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor due to the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
They say the attacks are aimed at stopping the war and supporting the Palestinians, although they often target ships that have nothing to do with the conflict.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while hundreds more have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank. It began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages.
The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on ships, killed three sailors, seized one ship and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. A US-led airstrikes campaign has targeted the Houthis since January. A series of strikes on May 30 killed at least 42 people, according to the rebels.
