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UK Royal Navy reports fire on ship off Yemeni coast after drone attack

According to its data, the "vessel has been hit on the port side" and that "there was fire on board which has now been extinguished"

LONDON, January 17. /TASS/. An unmanned aerial vehicle attacked a ship 60 nautical miles southeast of the Yemeni port of Aden, causing a fire on board, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) under the Royal Navy reported.

According to its data, the "vessel has been hit on the port side" and that "there was fire on board which has now been extinguished." The UKMTO advised ships to "transit with caution" in the area.

There is yet no information about the attacked vessel. The UKMTO did not elaborate on who might have been behind the drone attack.

The British maritime security company Ambrey said that the drone had attacked a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier.

Following the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip, the Yemen-based Houthis warned that they would carry out strikes on Israeli territory and would bar any ships associated with the Jewish state from sailing across the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the operation in the Palestinian enclave ended.

Early on January 12, US and UK aircraft, naval ships and submarines delivered joint strikes on Ansar Allah sites in some Yemeni cities, including Sanaa and Hodeidah. US President Joe Biden said the strikes were carried out in response to Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and were defensive. Houthi missile sites, drones and radiolocation systems were targeted.