An oil tanker with a Panamanian flag was hit by a missile off the coast of Yemen this Saturday. According to the British maritime safety agency UKMTO the ship “suffered light damage after being hit by an unidentified projectile”.
A Panamanian-flagged oil tanker was hit by a missile off the coast of Yemen, where Houthi rebels are increasing attacks on merchant ships, the maritime security company Ambrey reported on Saturday. A radio communication “indicates that the ship has been hit by a missile and that there is a fire in the cockpit of the aircraft”, claimed the British company according to which the attack occurred at approximately 10 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni town of Mokha.
The British maritime security agency UKMTO earlier reported an attack 76 nautical miles southwest of the city of Hodeidah, also on the Red Sea, although it was not known whether it was the same ship. “A ship suffered slight damage after being hit by an unidentified projectile,” UKMTO said on its X account, specifying that the crew was safe and that the ship had continued on its way to its next port. stopover.
Around ten strikes since November
The Houthis, who control the city of Hodeidah as well as large swathes of Yemeni territory, have carried out dozens of drone and missile strikes against ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November, disrupting global maritime trade. in this strategic area. Allies of Iran, they say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, where Israel launched war against Hamas after the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7 on Israeli soil.
Faced with these attacks, the United States, Israel’s close ally, set up a multinational force in December to protect navigation in the Red Sea and launched strikes in Yemen in January, with the help of the United Kingdom. against the rebels who have since said that they also target American and British ships.