Achi news desk-
Dubai, (APP – UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 24th March, 2024) A ship was hit on Saturday by an “unknown projectile” off Yemen, where Huthi rebels have stepped up attacks on Red Sea vessels, the UK Navy’s Merchant Marine Operations said. British.
The shot caused a fire which was “successfully extinguished” and the vessel and crew were “tossed to safety”, UKMTO said.
He added that the ship was on its way to its next port of call.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the reported attack, which UKMTO said struck 23 nautical miles west of the Yemeni port of Mokha.
Maritime security agency Ambrey said the vessel targeted was a Panama-flagged oil tanker on its way to New Mangalore Port in India.
According to Ambrey, “the tanker’s registration details, including name and operator, had been changed as recently as February 2024”.
The tanker was registered in 2019 by the British company Union Maritime Ltd, the security agency said, noting that another vessel linked to the same company had previously been targeted by the Huthis.
The rebels, who control much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, have launched dozens of missile and drone strikes on ships over the past four months, actions they say are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The Huthis have vowed to target Israeli, British and US ships, as well as ships bound for Israeli ports, disrupting traffic along the vital trade route.
Since mid-January the United States, which leads an international coalition that is supposed to protect the ships of the Red Sea, has reached Huthi targets in Yemen.
On Friday, the US military said it had “conducted self-defense strikes against three Huthi underground storage facilities”.
The US Central Command said its forces also destroyed four drones and registered four anti-ship ballistic missiles fired by the Huthis towards the Red Sea on the same day.
