There are fears of a fresh attack on shipping in the southern Red Sea on Friday.
UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said an incident had been reported 150 nautical miles (278 km) north-west of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.
Africa Risk Compliance said the master reported five missiles landing close to the vessel.
The ship was not damaged and proceeded north through the Red Sea.
Authorities are investigating.
The location is north of yesterday’s attack on an unspecified cargo ship, in which Yemen’s Houthi militia deployed sea drones and other projectiles to target a vessel it said had “violated a ban on visits to ports in occupied Palestine [Israel]”.
It named that ship as the Seajoy, saying it had been targeted by “a UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle], missile and naval forces using an uncrewed surface boat”.
Greek owner Eastern Mediterranean Maritime owns a 73,500-dwt, 2000-built Malta-flag bulker of that name.
The company has been contacted for comment.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the attack scored a “direct and accurate hit”.
The ship’s AIS has been out of range for 15 days.
The 225-metre Seajoy left China on 2 June, with its destination listed as Durban in South Africa on 28 June.
“The nature of the attack is reported as a waterborne improvised explosive device,” UKMTO said. “The vessel and crew are reported as safe and the vessel is proceeding to their next port of call.”
Series of claims
The Houthis have made a series of claims about attacks on ships in recent months.
These appear more accurate when referring to the Red Sea or Gulf of Aden operations, but shipowners have denied being targeted further afield in the Mediterranean.
Diaplous Group said the alert from the vessel believed to be the Seajoy was transmitted on Thursday through VHF channel 16 in the southern Red Sea, about 84 nautical miles south-west of Hodeidah in Yemen.
The ship called for immediate assistance by warships in the vicinity.
Security company Ambrey Analytics said it had reported taking a hit from a “projectile”.
The vessel was transiting south at the time, heading to Dammam in Saudi Arabia, the company added.
Ambrey added that a warship was reportedly approaching to assist.
No injuries have been reported.
Africa Risk Compliance said there had been minor damage from an explosion near the ship.
Sea drones were used to sink a Greek bulker last week in an escalation of the Houthis’ actions and capabilities.
A video distributed on media channels and social media purported to show a sea drone approaching Evalend Shipping’s 82,000-dwt Tutor (built 2022).
