UKMTO and Ambrey report incident near Hodeidah in Yemen

UPDATE 2 – UKMTO and Ambrey report incident near Hodeidah in Yemen

New versions with the updated UKMTO advisory note

CAIRO, June 1 (Reuters) –The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported an incident on Saturday 48 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah, Yemen, in which the ship’s captain observed an explosion at a considerable distance from the vessel.

The Iran-aligned Houthi militia, which controls the most populous parts of Yemen, has been attacking ships off the country’s coast for months, claiming it is acting in solidarity with Palestinians fighting Israel in the Gaza Strip.

The ship and its entire crew are safe and on their way to their next port of call, UKMTO said in an alert.

TheBritish security company Ambrey also announced that information about missile activities had been received near the same place.

The drone and missile attacks by Houthi fighters targeted the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden.

Since November, this has forced freight forwarders to reroute their freight onto longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.

Reporting by Enas Alashray and Hatem Maher; Editing by Kevin Liffey