Ship attacked and takes on water in Red Sea off Yemen, authorities say

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A ship was attacked Tuesday in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, with a private security firm saying radio traffic suggested the vessel took on water after being struck .

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion immediately fell on Yemen’s Houthi rebelswho have launched a number of attacks targeting ships as part of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Few other details were immediately available about the attack, reported by the British Army’s United Kingdom Maritime Commercial Operations Centre. It happened off the coast of the southern Red Sea port city of Hodeida, near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait that connects it to the Gulf of Aden.

Private security firm Ambrey said the ship radioed that it had “suffered damage to the hold and was taking on water.” He said he had been targeted by a missile attack.

The location of the attack was the Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier Laax. The ship said it was heading to Fujairah, United Arab Emirates.

The Laax is managed by Grehel Ship Management of Piraeus, Greece. A man who answered the phone in Grehel declined to answer questions about the attack, and an emailed request for comment was not returned.

The Houthis have launched attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in recent months, demanding that Israel end the war. war in Gaza, which killed more than 36,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages.

THE Houthis launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, has seized one ship and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Shipping via the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined due to the threat. In recent weeks, the pace of Houthi attacks has slowed, although rebels claimed to have shot down US surveillance drones.

Yemen has been wracked by conflict since rebels seized the capital, Sanaa, in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war alongside Yemen’s government-in-exile in 2015, but the conflict has remained in a stalemate for years as Riyadh tries to reach a peace deal with the Houthis.

Speaking in Dubai on Tuesday, the prime minister of Yemen’s internationally recognized government-in-exile urged the world to ignore the Houthis’ claims that they support the Palestinians in their attacks.

“The exploitation by the Houthis of a very just cause such as the cause of our people in Palestine and what is happening in Gaza aims to evade the benefits of peace and lead us to the major complications that exist,” said Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak to Arab media. Forum. “Peace is a strategic choice. We must achieve peace. The war must end. It’s a must. Our people need security and stability. The region itself needs stability.