A tanker has come under fire by gunmen on a skiff south of Yemen on Thursday.
The unnamed ship was in the vicinity of Point B of the International Recommended Transit Corridor about 109 miles south of Nishtun, Ambrey Analytics reported.
The small boat with four armed people on board approached the cargo vessel.
A non-Ambrey private armed security team returned fire.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency said the skiff then left.
Ambrey said the larger ship had increased speed during the incident.
No damage or injuries were reported.
Diaplous Group later said the vessel was a Liberia-flag tanker.
TradeWinds is told the tanker is the 75,000-dwt product carrier Yamila-III (built 2011), owned by Adnoc Logistics & Services.
AIS data shows the vessel heading from Fujairah in the UAE to Yanbu in the Red Sea two days ago.
The owner has been contacted for further information.
Ambrey advised ships to remain cautious in the area.
The Houthi rebels have used skiffs to discharge small arms towards merchant vessels in the southern Red Sea in the past, Ambrey noted.
The militia has also threatened to extend its area of operations into the western Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea.
VLGC targeted
This is the first incident since the Houthis confirmed an attack targeting a Greek-owned LPG carrier on Sunday.
A missile fired at the Marshall Islands-flag 84,100-cbm Mado (built 2015) on Sunday came within 200 metres of hitting the Naftomar-operated ship, the Combined Maritime Forces’ Joint Information Center said in a statement.
The attack happened 85 nautical miles south-east of Aden, the home of Yemen’s exiled government.
None of the crew were hurt and the ship continued its journey.
“The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against the American ship Mado in the Red Sea, with a number of suitable naval missiles,” Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree said on social media channels on Tuesday.
The strike was part of the Houthis months-long campaign to prevent shipping with links to Israel, the US and the UK from transiting in and around the Red Sea, in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
