The British Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) announced on the 6th (local time) that a British cargo ship passing through the Red Sea suffered minor damage after being hit by a projectile.
According to Reuters, the cargo ship was hit by a projectile fired toward the port side 57 nautical miles west of the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah. The projectile passed through the deck and damaged a window.
UKMTO explained that a small vessel was seen near the port side of the cargo ship at the time of the incident.
Ambray, a British maritime security company, determined that a Barbados-flagged general cargo ship owned by a British company suffered physical damage from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) while passing through the Red Sea.
The vessel took evasive maneuvers, no injuries were reported and continued on its way, Ambray added.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, have been attacking merchant ships in the Red Sea using drones and missiles since mid-November last year, declaring support for the Palestinian armed political group Hamas.
As the risk of navigation in the Red Sea increased and maritime trade was disrupted, the United States began retaliating by deploying ‘Operation Prosperity Guardians’, a multinational security initiative, together with 10 countries, including the UK and Bahrain, in December last year to suppress rebel provocations.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Palestine’s Hamas, and the Syrian government forces are pro-Iranian armed forces supported by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and are called the ‘Axis of Resistance’.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.