Maritime security firms reported yet another Houthi attack off Yemen, as the Yemeni rebel group continued their campaign against shipping.
The Singapore-flagged container ship was hit by two missiles as it sailed 83 nautical miles (154 km) southeast of Aden, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), Ambrey Analytics and Diaplous.
Despite the strikes at the port side and the accommodation area at port aft, all crew are reported safe.
“No injuries reported. No fire or flooding reported,” Diaplous said.
The incident is said to have taken place at night, at around 01:50 GMT.
The boxship was transiting northeast along the Gulf of Aden when another merchant vessel in the vicinity observed “light and blast” where the Singapore unit was located.
The container vessel appeared to perform evasive manoeuvres immediately and switch off its AIS about an hour later.
Ambrey assessed the vessel to be “aligned with the Houthi target profile”. This suggests it is owned or managed by Israeli or Western interests or that the company managing it has vessels that called at Israeli ports recently.
Oil slick in the Red Sea
In a separate development further north in the Red Sea, Bloomberg reported late on Thursday that an oil slick, likely caused by fuel oil, was spotted about 60 miles northwest of the Yemeni city of Hodeidah.
The slick is said to be extending over 125 miles.
It remains unclear if this oil spill is connected to the 107,500-dwt Chios Lion (built 2010), a Greek-controlled tanker that suffered damage in a Houthi attack on 15 July, about 100 miles northwest of Hodeidah.
UKMTO said earlier this week that the Stealth Maritime-managed ship was anchored near the Suez Canal, investigating a “potential oil spillage” after it was attacked by a Houthi sea drone.
There have been conflicting accounts of the Chios Lion incident, with some reports saying the ship was hit directly by a booby-trapped unmanned Houthi boat, while others said the drone exploded a few metres from the vessel after receiving gunfire from armed security guards on board.
