LONDON, January 15. /TASS/. A US merchant ship came under attack off Yemen, catching fire, Sky News television reported, citing the British maritime security company Ambrey.
The fire broke out in the hold of the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel, the report said. There were no injuries and the bulker remained seaworthy, according to the report.
Ambrey said the ship isn’t associated with supplies of goods to Israel. The company assessed the vessel could have been targeted by the Yemeni rebel group Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, in retaliation for the recent strikes by the US and the UK.
UK Maritime Trade Operations agency earlier said it received a report that a missile hit a ship 95 nautical miles southeast of the city of Aden in Yemen. The missile hit from above, the agency said, providing no other details. UKMTO advised vessels to exercise caution when transiting the area.
Following the escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Yemen-based Houthis said they would strike Israeli territory and prevent ships affiliated with that country from passing through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait until the operation in the Palestinian enclave ended. According to the US Central Command, the Houthis have attacked more than 20 civilian ships in the Red Sea since mid-November.
Overnight into January 12, US and UK aircraft, naval ships and submarines struck Houthis sites in some Yemeni cities. US President Joe Biden said the strikes were defensive and represented a response to Houthis attacks in the Red Sea. The targets included the Houthis sites for launching missiles and drones, along with locations of radar stations.