(Dubai) An explosion occurred near a commercial ship off the coast of Yemen, a British maritime agency reported Monday, without reporting any casualties or damage.
The explosion occurred in the Red Sea in the “immediate vicinity” of the ship 54 nautical miles northwest of the southern Yemeni town of Mokha, the Royal Navy’s UKTMO reported, citing a member of the crew.
“The ship and crew are safe and sound,” the agency said.
Ambrey, another maritime security agency, said “it was likely” that a Maltese-flagged container ship was targeted while en route from Djibouti to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
“The ship was reportedly targeted by three missiles,” Ambrey said. It was targeted because of its records showing that its operator had conducted commercial transactions with Israel, according to the agency.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, but Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels are responsible for a series of attacks on ships since November in the Red Sea and Gulf of Iran. Aden.
The Houthis, who control the capital Sanaa and a good part of Yemen’s west coast on the Red Sea, claim to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where a war pits the Islamist movement Hamas against Israel.
On Sunday, the US Central Command (Centcom) said on X that its forces had shot down five drones in the Red Sea that posed “an imminent threat to US, coalition and merchant ships in the region”.
Faced with the attacks, the United States, support of Israel, set up a multinational maritime protection force in the Red Sea.