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A tanker came under multiple explosions in waters off Yemen's coast on Sunday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), the latest reported incident in a Red Sea region that has seen repeated attacks on commercial shipping.
UKMTO said in a warning that the incident took place approximately 60 nautical miles south of the Yemeni port city of Mokha. The tanker's company security officer reported seeing multiple explosions in close proximity to the vessel, the agency said.
"The crew are reported as safe and no environmental impact has been reported," UKMTO said in its advisory.
The agency said authorities are investigating the incident and advised vessels transiting the area to exercise caution and report any suspicious activity. UKMTO did not identify the tanker or specify what caused the explosions.
Separately on Sunday, the Saudi-led Arab Coalition said it would continue uninterrupted operational support for Yemen's internationally recognized government, its armed forces and the Yemeni people.
Brigadier General Turki al-Maliki, spokesman for the coalition, said in a statement posted to the social media platform X that Iran-backed Houthi actions, including forced displacement, starvation, plundering of national resources and the recruitment of child soldiers, amounted to a clear violation of international law.
Maliki said Houthi attacks on Saudi cities including Mecca, Medina and the capital Riyadh, along with threats to shipping in the southern Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, had made deterrent measures necessary. He said the group's actions targeted not only regional security but also global trade, freedom of maritime navigation and the world economy.
"The Coalition Joint Forces Command continues its operations to restore state authority (in Yemen) and to support the legitimate Yemeni government and the Yemeni armed forces in every domain, with the aim of ending the Houthi coup," Maliki said, according to the statement.
He added that the coalition would continue to stand with the Yemeni people until the Houthi threat is eliminated and the security of navigation is guaranteed.
Yemen has been the site of civil war since the Houthis seized control of the capital Sanaa and several provinces in September 2014. The Saudi-led Arab Coalition has supported the internationally recognized Yemeni government since March 2015. Clashes between government forces and the Houthis have intensified in recent months, with the Iran-backed group launching ballistic missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia that it has said are responses to strikes against it.
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