A merchant ship reported an explosion near it in the Red Sea on Thursday, about 19 nautical miles west of the Yemeni port city of Mokha, British security firm Ambrey reported.
Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Thursday it had received a report of an incident 27 nautical miles south of Mokha and that authorities were investigating.
The ship fit the profile of the targets of Yemeni Houthi militants, who have attacked ships off the country’s coast for several months, Ambrey said in a note.
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It was en route from Europe to the United Arab Emirates and was not transmitting an Automatic Identification System signal at the time, Ambrey said. He did not give further details.
It was not clear whether the two incidents reported by Ambrey and UKMTO were the same.
Since November, the Houthis have repeatedly attacked the shipping channels of the Red Sea, the Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones.
This has forced shippers to divert cargo to longer, more expensive routes through southern Africa and has stoked fears that the war between Israel and Hamas will spread and destabilize the Middle East.
With information from Reuters
