Yemen Monitor/News Room:
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Friday that it had received a report of a failed hijacking attempt of a vessel 195 nautical miles east of Aden, Yemen.
The ship’s master reported that a small boat carrying five or six armed men with ladders approached the vessel.
UKMTO said that the armed men in the boat initially fired on the vessel, in response the security team on board returned fire, forcing the craft to retreat.
UKMTO added that it had been informed that the vessel and its crew were safe and that the vessel was proceeding to its next port.
Shipping industry sources say that pirates in the region may have been emboldened by the security situation or are exploiting the chaos caused by attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels on shipping lanes.
On Tuesday, UKMTO said that two explosions had been reported near a merchant vessel 82 nautical miles south of the Yemeni port city of Aden.
On Thursday, “Allianz Commercial insurance company” said that the Houthis had attacked more than 50 commercial ships in the Red Sea between 19 November and the end of last April.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Houthi group said on Thursday that his group had targeted 112 Israeli, US and British ships since the start of its operations in support of Gaza in November 2023.
Since last November, the Houthis have continued their attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. In response, the US and Britain have carried out strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and have re-designated the group as a terrorist organization in light of its attacks on commercial ships.
