A ship has reportedly been attacked with gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades in the Red Sea off Yemen, a group overseen by the British military said.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said the ship’s armed security team had returned fire and that the “situation is ongoing”.
“Authorities are investigating,” it said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack immediately.
Ambrey, a maritime security firm, issued a warning saying that a merchant ship had been “attacked by eight skiffs while transiting northbound in the Red Sea”.
It said it believed the attack was ongoing.
File imagery of an oil tanker bursting into flames in the Red Sea after being hit by Yemen’s Houthi group in 2024. (Houthi Military Media/Handout via Reuters)
The US Navy’s Middle East-based 5th Fleet referred questions from the Associated Press to the military’s Central Command, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region, in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors.
The attacks greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $US1 trillion ($1.52 trillion) of goods move through it annually.
The Houthis paused their attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March.
That assault ended weeks later, and the Houthis haven’t attacked a vessel since — though they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.
Pirates from Somalia have also operated in the region, though typically they’ve sought to capture vessels either to rob or ransom their crews.
AP
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