LONDON, (PIC)
A British maritime authority said on Tuesday that a cargo ship had been targeted today in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, while the Yemeni Ansarullah group reiterated its pledge to continue to prevent commercial ships from reaching Israeli ports as long as the US-backed Israeli genocidal war on the Gaza Strip persisted.
According to news reports, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) claimed that two explosions occurred around five miles from a vessel in an area of the Red Sea located 50 miles from the port of Hodeida, a city on Yemen’s western coast.
The identity of the vessel, details of the cargo onboard or where it was sailing to or had sailed from were not disclosed.
UKMTO said the vessel was in contact with US-led coalition forces and that the vessel and crew had been reported safe, adding that the vessel continued its voyage.
The group has vowed to continue its attacks until the Israeli occupation army halts its war on Gaza and warned that it will attack US warships if the group itself was targeted.
The reported incident happened one week after the US administration announced multinational maritime security patrols in the Red Sea in response to pro-Gaza attacks on vessels by Yemen’s Ansarullah group.
The group has said it is targeting Israeli-linked vessels and those heading for Israel, warning shipping companies against dealing with Israeli ports. Several shipping lines have suspended operations through the Red Sea waterway following attacks, instead taking the longer journey around Africa.
In a related context, the Indian navy has dispatched destroyer ships to the Arabian Sea after an attack on an Israel-linked chemical tanker off its coast, the Indian defense ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Three destroyers were deployed “in various areas of the sea” to “maintain a deterrent presence” considering the “recent spate of attacks in the Arabian Sea,” the ministry stated.
