A ship has been attacked by a series of manned and unmanned craft in the southern Red Sea.
The master of a merchant vessel reported the attack to the UK Maritime Trade Operations on Monday morning.
The report said that three vessels had attacked the ship 70 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah. Two were crewed and a third appeared to be unmanned.
The unmanned craft smashed into the ship twice, but the vessel carried out “self-protection” measures and the attack was abandoned, the report said.
Maritime security firm Diaplous added that a firefight ensued between the attackers and the ship’s onboard security team.
Two projectiles landed close to the vessel in the aftermath of the initial attack, Diaplous added.
The vessel and crew were unscathed and proceeding to their next port of call.
The previous incident was on Tuesday, when a suspicious approach was reported by a ship’s master in the Red Sea.
TradeWinds reported last week that the emerging Houthi tactic of using a swarm of sea drones threatens a more destructive phase of attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
The first sea drone was used against commercial shipping in January but did not hit a vessel until Evalend Shipping’s 82,000-dwt Tutor (built 2022) was sunk in June, with the death of one seafarer.
