A maritime incident was reported off the southeast coast of Aden, Yemen, on Friday by the United Kingdom's Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). A later update revealed that the incident involved a missile being fired towards a vessel.
The Master of the vessel confirmed that the missile landed in the water, 400-500 metres away from the ship. While there were no injuries or damage was incurred during the attack, the Mater also stated that 3 small crafts tailed the ship.
UKMTO WARNING 008/JAN/2024https://t.co/zHGNgQp1UB#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/KVYPsUT81Q
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) January 12, 2024
Houthi terrorists mistakenly targeted a tanker carrying Russian oil in a missile attack on Friday off Yemen, British maritime security firm Ambrey said.
Escalation in the region
Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi militants, who control much of Yemen, have launched wave after wave of exploding drones and missiles at Western commercial vessels in the Red Sea since Nov. 19, in what they say is a protest against Israel's military operations in Gaza.
The United States and Britain carried out strikes from the air and sea against Houthi military targets in Yemen overnight. Russia, an ally of Iran and a partner of key Arab powers, denounced the strikes and called for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.
"A Panama-flagged tanker sighted three skiffs while transiting eastbound through the International Recommended Transit Corridor," the Ambrey report said, adding that the vessel reported a missile hitting the water.
Ambrey assessed that the vessel was mistakenly targeted based on outdated publicly available information linking the vessel to the United Kingdom.
"This appeared to be five months old but was still listed as UK-affiliated on a public maritime database,"the report said.
This is a developing story.