UK agencies say missiles fired at vessel off coast of Yemen, one intercepted
Second missile hits water at distance from ship; no damaged caused and crew reported safe; incident comes days after Houthi chief vowed to continue attacks on shipping
British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Saturday it had received information that a vessel had been targeted around 61 nautical miles southwest of Hodeida in Yemen.
Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received a report of an incident at almost the same point where the captain of a vessel reported two missiles in the vicinity of the ship that did not cause damage.
It was unclear whether Ambrey and UKMTO were reporting the same incident as they did not name any vessels in their updates.
One of the missiles mentioned in UKMTO’s advisory note was intercepted by coalition forces defending commercial shipping in the region, it said. The second hit the water a distance from the vessel, it added.
There was no damage to the vessel and the crew were reported safe, UKMTO said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the reported attack.
UKMTO ADVISORY INCIDENT 061
ATTACKhttps://t.co/K4BU9BXk05#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/AkiSFHlFm2
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) April 6, 2024
Since November, the Houthis have attacked ships, saying they want to force Israel to end its offensive in the Gaza Strip against Hamas. The ships targeted by the rebels, however, largely have had little or no connection to Israel, the US, or other nations involved in the war. The rebels also have fired missiles toward Israel, though they have largely fallen short or been intercepted.
The war in Gaza broke out on October 7 when the Palestinian terror group Hamas launched an unprecedented massive attack on Israel, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 253. Israel responded with a military campaign to destroy Hamas, topple its regime in Gaza, and free the hostages, over half of whom remain in captivity.
Months of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around Southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilize the wider Middle East.
The United States, which leads an international coalition intended to protect Red Sea shipping, has since mid-January launched repeated strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. Britain has also participated in several of the strikes.
In a televised speech on Thursday, Houthi chief Abdul Malik al-Huthi said 37 people have been killed in more than 400 strikes by the US and Britain in Yemen since January.
“During these operations and attacks, 37 martyrs died and 30 others were wounded,” he said, without specifying if the casualties were civilians or combatants.
The rebel leader vowed to continue the attacks on Red Sea shipping, saying his fighters launched 34 attacks in the past month.
