DUBAI: A ship off Yemen reported an explosion on Thursday, a UK maritime agency said, noting both the vessel and its crew were safe.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, run by the Royal Navy, said the master reported an “explosion at a distance astern of the vessel,” southeast of the Yemeni port city of Aden, but the ship was proceeding to its next port of call.

“The vessel has sustained no damage and the crew are reported safe,” it added, without identifying the ship or the flag it was flying. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for any attack.

But Houthi rebels, who control the capital Sanaa and much of the country’s Red Sea coast, have launched numerous missile and drone strikes against ships since November. They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians.

The United States and Britain have also launched repeated strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen since January in response to the rebel attacks, but these have failed to stop the Houthis.

On Wednesday, the rebels fired one anti-ship ballistic missile into the Gulf of Aden, without impacting any vessels, according to US Central Command (CENTCOM).

US military forces then “destroyed four unmanned aerial systems (UAVs) and one surface-to-air missile” in Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen because they “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region,” CENTCOM said in a statement on Thursday. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah television reported four strikes near the Hodeidah airport but it was not immediately clear if the airport was hit.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2024