ALBAWABA- A sea captain reported an explosion near his vessel 40 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Mocha, but confirmed that the ship and its crew were unharmed.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported that a shipmaster experienced an explosion near his vessel south of Mocha, but the ship continued its journey unscathed.
This attack came just a day after Houthis claimed to hit three ships in the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden the previous day.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea stated on Tuesday evening that they targeted the US-flagged Maersk Sentosa in the Arabian Sea with ballistic and cruise missiles as retaliation for US military strikes on Houthi-controlled regions in Yemen.
Additionally, Sarea claimed that explosive-laden drones were used against the Marthopolis ship in the Arabian Sea, accusing its parent company of violating the militia’s travel ban to Israel.
Another vessel, the MSC Patnaree, identified by Sarea as Israeli, was also targeted with drones in the Gulf of Aden.
According to marinetraffic.com, the Maersk Sentosa is a US-flagged container ship that docked at Oman’s Salalah port on Tuesday, the Marthopolis is a Malta-flagged container ship en route from Oman to India, and the MSC Patnaree is a Liberian-flagged container ship sailing from Somalia to Sri Lanka.
The Houthis assert that their anti-ship campaign targets Israel-linked vessels and those traveling to Israel, aiming to pressure Tel Aviv into ending its war in Gaza. They have also targeted US and UK ships following strikes on Houthi-controlled Yemeni territory by these countries.
In parallel, US Central Command announced on Wednesday that its forces had destroyed a drone in Houthi-controlled Yemeni territory, marking the latest in a series of US military attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.
