Two Attacks Northwest Of Yemen’s Mokha Reported

CAIRO, July 20 (Reuters) – The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Saturday it had received a report of two attacks on a vessel 64 nautical miles (118.5 km) northwest of Yemen’s Mokha, causing slight damage.

It said the captain of the vessel reported attacks by an Uncrewed Aerial System, which exploded close to the vessel and by an Uncrewed Surface Vessel, which also exploded nearby.

A maritime security source told Reuters that the vessel, which has been identified as a Liberia-flagged container ship was attacked by a skiff and drones. After the attack it kept maneuvering at maximum speed to escape as it was waiting support from a warship.

The captain has “subsequently reported further UAS sightings,” adding that “both the vessel and the crew are safe,” UKMTO said.

It earlier reported another attack that occurred 83 nautical miles southeast of Yemen’s Aden late on Friday, in which a Singapore-flagged vessel was damaged by a Houthi strike. That incident was still under investigation, UKMTO said.

Shipping company Asiatic Lloyd that owns and operates the ship said in a statement on Saturday that its crew and armed guards on board were all safe and the vessel, which was on its way from Berbera in Somalia to Colombo in Sri Lanka, docked at an unnamed port to asses the damage and plan repairs.

(Reporting by Adam Makary in Cairo and Yannis Souliotis in AthensWriting by Muhammad Al GebalyEditing by Frances Kerry and Tomasz Janowski)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024.

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