By Enas Alashray and Adam Makary
CAIRO (Reuters) -A merchant vessel reported that a ship was hit by an unknown explosive resulting in a possible fire on board 125 nautical miles east of Yemen’s port of Aden, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) and British security firm Ambrey said on Saturday.
Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since last November in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas.
There were no injuries and all crew were reported safe, UKMTO and Ambrey said in advisory notes.
UKMTO added that it was the same vessel involved in an incident it reported earlier 175 nautical miles also east of Aden.
Ambrey also reported the incident saying that it “assessed that the vessel had been targeted earlier today and reported a close-proximity explosion.”
If the Houthis claim responsibility, the incidents would be their first since Israel carried out a retaliatory airstrike against the group in the port of Hodeidah.
The Houthi attacks have drawn U.S. and British retaliatory strikes and disrupted global trade as ship owners reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal to sail the longer route around the southern tip of Africa.
(Reporting by Enas Alashray and Adam Makary; editing by Andrew Cawthorne, Jason Neely and Nick Zieminski)
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