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Houthis report attacking Santa Ursula vessel in Arabian Sea

The container ship Santa Ursula, sailing under the flag of Denmark, is bound from Spain’s Algerciras to the Omani port of Salalah, Marine Traffic data showed

DUBAI, December 27. /TASS/. Yemen’s Houthi rebels targeted the vessel Santa Ursula, en route across the Arabian Sea, Yahya Saree, the military spokesperson for the Ansar Allah movement, said.

"Unmanned system forces have conducted a military operation, targeting the vessel Santa Ursula in the Arabian Sea east off Socotra Island with several drones," Saree said in a speech broadcast by the Houthi-controlled Al Masirah television.

According to Saree, the Houthis registered a direct hit to the ship’s hull. The vessel was attacked because "its owner company violated the ban on passage through ports in the occupied Palestine," he explained.

The container ship Santa Ursula, sailing under the flag of Denmark, is bound from Spain’s Algerciras to the Omani port of Salalah, Marine Traffic data showed. The vessel last signaled its location in the Arabian Sea at 12:36 p.m. local time (8:36 a.m. GMT).

After the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis warned that they would shell Israeli territory and would not allow Israeli-affiliated ships to pass through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait until the Israeli operation in the Palestinian enclave stops. Since November last year, the Houthis have attacked dozens of civilian ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

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