A second container ship came under fire off the coast of Yemen on Friday, maritime security company Ambrey said. A British military service reported that a fire broke out, but was quickly extinguished. The crew is safe.

The Houthis have been disrupting shipping movement to and from the Red Sea for weeks. They are therefore chanting against the Israeli operation in Gaza.

Earlier on Friday, the cargo ship “Al Jasra”, belonging to the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, was bombed off the coast of Yemen. A fire broke out on deck and a container fell overboard.

The second cargo ship shot was the MSC Palatium owned by a Swiss owner. This was on the way to the Saudi port of Jeddah. The ship was targeted while sailing about 22 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Mokha.

It is possible that the Houthis informed the ship via radio communications not to continue in the Red Sea. The ship could have already turned around and now sailed toward Bab al-Mandab, the strait south of the Red Sea, according to Ambrey.

Peter van Amelrooy

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