(Reuters) – A Greek-flagged U.S. bulk carrier reported two missile attacks on Monday in the Gulf of Aden and requested military assistance, sources at the Greek Shipping Ministry and British maritime security company Ambrey said.
Separately, Britain’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said it had received a report from a ship 100 miles east of the Yemeni port of Aden of an explosion nearby.
According to two sources from the Greek Ministry of Maritime Transport, the bulk carrier Sea Champion, with 23 crew members, was sailing between Argentina and the Gulf of Aden and transporting grain when it was attacked. There were two attempted attacks with missiles that exploded 10-15 meters from the ship, damaging a window, the sources added.
Both Ambrey and UKMTO said the bulk carrier and its crew, including five Greek members, were safe and heading to the next port.
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Since mid-November, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, allies of Iran, have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Bab el Mandeb Strait, claiming to act in solidarity with the Palestinians. from Gaza.
Earlier on Monday, the Houthis said they had carried out an attack in the Gulf of Aden against the cargo ship Rubymar, which was now at risk of sinking.
(Reporting Jana Choukeir and Ahmed Elimam in Dubai, Renee Maltezou and Yannis Souliotis in Athens; French version Lina Golovnya, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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