Explosion reported near ship off Yemen’s Aden

An explosion took place near a vessel off Yemen’s port city of Aden, the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Thursday.

UKMTO said it had received a report of an explosion near a vessel 85 nautical miles east of Aden, adding that both the vessel and crew were safe.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against international commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel’s war crimes in Gaza, which killed over 28,000 people, mostly women and children.

Their targets have been vessels with commercial ties to the United States, Britain or Israel, shipping and insurance sources say.

The attacks have prompted several companies to halt Red Sea journeys and opt for a longer and more expensive route around Africa, and U.S. and British warplanes have carried out retaliatory strikes across Yemen.