CAIRO (Reuters) -A Liberia-flagged tanker was struck by an unidentified projectile in the Red Sea causing minor damage, but no casualties, British maritime security agencies said on Thursday.
The incident occurred about 73 nautical miles (135 kilometres) southwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, security firm Ambrey said.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency (UKMTO) said separately that it had received a report of an incident in the same area, adding authorities are investigating.
The chemical/products tanker, en route from Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah to Muscat in Oman was struck on its starboard side. The projectile hit the bridge causing minor damage, Ambrey said.
Approximately four hours later, two additional projectiles reportedly detonated within 0.27 nautical miles of the vessel’s port side.
“Ambrey assessed the vessel to have a strong affiliation with the Houthi targeting profile,” Ambrey said.
Houthi fighters in Yemen have carried out nearly 100 attacks on ships crossing the Red Sea since November and say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel’s year-long war in Gaza. They have sunk two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers.
The master of the Liberia-flagged vessel reported the tanker was hit by four projectiles, sustaining damage, but no fires or casualties were reported, UKMTO said in a statement.
The crew are reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call, the statement added.
(Reporting by Ahmed Tolba and Enas Alashray in Cairo and Ahmed Elimam and Tala Ramadan in Dubai; Editing by Kim Coghill, Christian Schmollinger, Lincoln Feast and Sharon Singleton)
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