LONDON, August 3. /TASS/. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) has reported about attacks on two vessels off the Yemeni shore.
"UKTMO has received a report of an incident 170NM (nautical miles) southeast of Aden, Yemen," the statement said. "The master of a merchant vessel reports the armed security team observed a small explosion in close proximity to the vessel. The Master confirms there is no damage and all crew are reported safe," UKMTO said adding that the vessel was proceeding to its next port of call.
Later, the UKMTO wrote on its X profile about another incident 125 nautical miles east of Aden. The incident was defined as an attack.
"The Company Security Officer reports that the vessel was hit by a missile. No fires, water ingress or oil leaks have been observed. Vessel is proceeding to next port of call," the agency said.
According to UKMTO, there was no damage and the entire crew is safe.
Following the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip, Yemen’s Ansar Allah rebel movement (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. Since mid-November 2023, the Houthis have attacked dozens of civilian ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
In response to the Houthi attacks, Washington announced establishing an international coalition and launched Operation Prosperity Guardian to ensure freedom of navigation and protection of vessels in the Red Sea. Since then, the US and UK militaries have regularly delivered joint strikes on the rebels’ military targets across Yemen.