Crew sent out distress call

Missile hit off Yemen: Freighter with a list

(Bild: twitter.com/UKMTO)

A freighter was hit by missiles - presumably fired by Houthi rebels - off the coast of Yemen on Tuesday lunchtime and has been left listing. This was reported by Ambrey, a British maritime security company. However, the ship has since been able to reach a nearby port.

The extent of the damage to the "Laax", which flies the flag of the Marshall Islands, is being investigated there, according to shipping circles on Tuesday afternoon. The ship had been on its way to the United Arab Emirates when it was attacked with three missiles.

The crew had sent out a distress call. Water was reportedly entering the ship. At the time of the attack, the 229-metre-long cargo ship was about 54 nautical miles (100 kilometers) southwest of the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah (Al Hudaydah) in the open sea.

Ships are advised to exercise caution when transiting the strait between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and to report any suspicious activity, writes the UK Maritime Trade Office (UKMTO) on the X platform (formerly Twitter; see post above).

Since November, the Houthi rebels, who are allied with Iran, have repeatedly launched drone and missile attacks in the Red Sea. They justify the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the militant Islamist Hamas in the war with Israel.

Two US destroyers also attacked by Houthis
Only on Monday, the Iran-backed Houthis declared that they had attacked three ships in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea as well as two US destroyers in the Red Sea.

The ships in question were the Larego Desert and the MSC Mechela in the Indian Ocean and the Minerva Lisa in the Red Sea. According to the Reuters news agency, the names of the two destroyers were not disclosed.