Vessel captain reports attack south of Yemen's Mokha, UK maritime agency says

Yemeni coastguard members in a patrol boat in the Red Sea off of the government-held town of Mokha in the western Taiz province, close to the strategic Bab al-Mandab Strait, on December 12, 2023 [KHALED ZIAD/AFP via Getty Images]

A ship’s captain reported an attack from two small crafts, 45 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Mokha, with a rocket-propelled grenade exploding near the vessel, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Thursday.

Houthi fighters have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since November in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Palestine.

The vessel and crew are safe and the ship is proceeding to its next port of call, the agency said.

The two small boats, white and black in colour, each had four people on board who were reported to be wearing what the agency said were white and yellow raincoats.

The Houthi attacks have drawn US and British retaliatory strikes and disrupted global trade as ship owners re-route vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal to sail the longer route around the southern tip of Africa.

READ: Yemen Houthis target ‘Contship Ono’ ship, two US destroyers

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