British cargo ship sustains minor damage near Yemen

A cargo ship in the Red Sea suffered minor damage after being hit by a projectile missile about 100 nautical miles east of the coastal city of Aden in Yemen, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency reported.

British maritime security firm Ambrey said the missile, which did not directly hit the ship, caused a fuel leak, noting that the crew were unharmed.

Earlier yesterday, UKMTO said it had received a report of an explosion near a vessel 85 nautical miles east of Yemen’s port city of Aden.

Meanwhile, Houthi leader, Abdul-Malik Al-Houthi, said yesterday the American-British bombing of the group’s sites “have failed to achieve their goals”, pledging to continue operations in the Red Sea “until the Israeli aggression on Gaza stops.”

“The United States and Britain have completely failed on the military level to protect ships linked to Israel,” he said, adding, “Our front in Yemen is continuing, effectively and influentially, despite the American-British aggression in support of Israel, and as long as the Israeli aggression against Gaza continues, all activities in our country will continue.”

According to Al-Houthi, the United States and Britain have launched 40 strikes against Yemen this week, most of which targeted the western coastal governorate of Hudaydah.

On Wednesday, the Houthi group announced that the United States and Britain had targeted Yemen with 403 raids since the start of their attacks on the country in January.

Since November, the group has been targeting Israel linked ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians being killed in Israel’s brutal bombing campaign of the besieged Gaza Strip since 7 October.

Their actions forced many shipping companies to reroute their vessels to the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, adding two weeks to journey times.

READ: Yemen: explosion reported near vessel east of Aden, says UK maritime agency