This comes as Yemen’s Houthi militia pledged to continue attacking ships passing through the Red Sea, Bab Al-Mandab Strait, and Gulf of Aden during the holy month of Ramadan.
“The master reported the sound of an explosion in the vicinity of the vessel. Vessels are reported safe. Coalition Forces are investigating,” UKMTO, which tracks down ship attacks, said in a statement.
Ambrey, another UK maritime organization that issues warnings about ship assaults, reported receiving information about a missile explosion in Yemen’s Red Sea port city of Hodeidah.
Until Monday afternoon, the Houthis had not claimed credit for fresh strikes on ships in the Red Sea, although they often issue comments hours after each attack.
Since November, the Houthis have seized a commercial ship and launched hundreds of missiles, drones, and remotely controlled bomb boats at commercial and naval ships in international waters off Yemen’s coast in what the Yemeni militia claims are actions in support of Palestine and retaliation for US and UK bombardment of areas under their control in Yemen.
The Houthis claim that their strikes are intended to push Israel to let humanitarian aid, such as water, food, and medicine, into the beleaguered Gaza Strip in Palestine.
Speaking to his supporters on Sunday, Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi said the movement would continue to launch attacks on international ships, including US Navy ships, during Ramadan until Israel lifted its siege on Gaza and urged his followers to hold large rallies on Fridays in support of Palestine and the Red Sea ship attacks.
At the same time, UN Yemen Envoy Hans Grundberg urged Yemeni parties on Monday to strive toward peace in Yemen during Ramadan, as UN-brokered talks to end the war in Yemen have been virtually stalled since the Houthis initiated assaults on ships.
“As a time of compassion, reflection, and unity, I hope this Ramadan inspires these values in everyone and brings Yemen closer to peace,” Grundberg said in Ramadan greetings to Yemenis.
Fighting in Yemen has significantly lessened since April 2022, when the UN-brokered ceasefire went into effect.
Despite gaining assurances from Yemeni parties to back his plan to end the conflict, the UN Yemen envoy recently informed the Yemeni government that his peace efforts had been broken by the Houthi Red Sea raids as well as the US classification of the Houthis as a terrorist organization.
Meanwhile, Rashad Al-Alimi, president of Yemen’s internationally recognized Presidential Leadership Council, accused the Houthis of driving Yemenis into widespread starvation after their Red Sea strikes raised shipping and insurance prices and impeded the supply of crucial products into Yemen.
In a speech on Sunday on the eve of the first day of Ramadan, the Yemeni leader said that the Houthis are exploiting the suffering of Palestinians to launch attacks on ships to break their group’s international isolation and relieve public pressure on them for failing to pay salaries and deliver services.
“The militias hope, in vain, that this escalation would break their international isolation and impose a fait accompli on behalf of the Yemenis, who have bravely opposed their racist scheme for a decade and will do so to the end,” Al-Alimi said.
Yemen’s Houthi militia vowed on Tuesday to launch more “painful” attacks against the US and the UK, as the US Central Command confirmed the destruction of the Iran-backed group’s missiles.
The announcement came as the Houthis asked international ships involved in repairing internet cables in the Red Sea to get authorization from them to avoid being targeted.
Speaking to military officers in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah, Houthi Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser Al-Atefi said the group would launch fresh assaults on American and British ships as the two countries continued to bomb Yemen.
“Yemeni naval forces are closely monitoring all movements in the Red and Arabian Seas and our appropriate responses will make anybody found to be involved in such operations regret their allegiance to America and Britain,” Al-Atefi said.
The warning came as the US Central Command announced that two anti-ship cruise missiles were destroyed on Monday night in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and that the group had fired three ballistic missiles at commercial and navy ships in the Red Sea.
One of the missiles, launched on Monday afternoon, hit and damaged the Liberian-flagged and Swiss-owned cargo vessel MSC SKY II. No one was hurt in the incident and the ship did not request assistance, the US military said in a statement.
The Houthis said the ship was owned by Israel and that it was targeted as a show of support for the people of Palestine and in response to US and UK strikes on Yemen.
The group said the US and UK conducted three strikes on Monday in the Baqoum region of the northern province of Saada.
Houthi Telecommunications Minister Misfer Al-Numair said his ministry had asked that international ships involved in repairing damaged undersea internet cables in the Red Sea obtain permission to do so from his government.
He dismissed accusations that the Houthis had sabotaged the cables in order to put pressure on countries to comply with their demands, the group’s official news agency reported.
Analysts have said the Houthis might use the internet cables as a negotiating tool to win concessions from their opponents both within and beyond Yemen.
“It is not unlikely that the Houthis would threaten internet cables to punish the international community or gain concessions,” Nadwa Al-Dawsari, a non-resident fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told Arab News.
The group might seek to take advantage of the regional and international disruption to try and achieve a political settlement to end the Yemen war, she said.
“The Houthis feel confident. They were never held accountable for any of their violations, including attacks on the Red Sea.”
Elisabeth Kendall, a Middle East expert and mistress of Cambridge University’s Girton College, said the Houthis were seeking power and financial benefits by compelling foreign internet companies to cooperate with them before entering the Red Sea.
“The Houthis seek legitimacy and issuing permits helps position them as the recognized authority over the Red Sea,” she said.
“Regarding power, it enables the Houthis to strike deals and perhaps target more discriminately. The Houthis will also see this as a potentially lucrative new revenue stream. This helps compensate for their failure, thus far, to seize any of the major oil and gas producing regions of Yemen in Marib, Shabwa and Hadramout.”
