Liberia-flagged container ship attacked in Red Sea, suffers damage-Ambrey

A Liberia-flagged container ship sustained damage from an "aerial attack" as it was sailing through the Bab al-Mandab strait, causing a fire on deck and a container to fall overboard, the British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Friday.

Ambrey reported the vessel was owned by Hapag-Lloyd AG and had been sailing south through the Bab al-Mandab strait in the southern Red Sea when it was attacked by a projectile 50 nautical miles north of the Yemeni Red Sea port of Mokha.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the incident.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking vessels in Red Sea shipping lanes and firing drones and missiles at Israel since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza over two months ago, in a campaign they say aims to support the Palestinians.

In a separate report on Friday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received a report of a small craft with 10 people aboard declaring themselves to be Yemeni authorities ordering a vessel to alter course towards Yemen in the vicinity of Bab al-Mandab, 50 nautical miles north of Mokha.

In another report, UKMTO also said it had received a report that a vessel had been hit by an unknown object west of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah resulting in a fire on board but no casualties.

It was not immediately clear if the reports were referring to the same incident.

The Houthis, who rule much of Yemen, have vowed they will continue with their attacks until Israel stops its offensive in the Gaza Strip

Late on Thursday, the Houthis claimed to have carried out a military operation against a Maersk container vessel, directly hitting it with a drone. The Danish shipping company denied the claim and said the vessel was not hit.