The United Kingdom Maritime Tradeoperations (UKMTO) has reported an explosion near a ship that is passing through the Bab El Mandeb Strait off the coast of Yemen.
The explosion near a boat, announced this morning by the British Army's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, hit a key shipping route off Yemen, and is the latest incident in the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which separates the Arabian peninsula from the Horn of Africa, vital for commercial shipping.
"The captain reported that the explosion occurred two nautical miles from one of the ship's quarters while it was in transit," maritime safety firm Ambrey said. The incident came as Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin arrived in Bahrain, the base of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, as part of a tour of the Middle East that will also take him to Qatar. Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have launched a barrage of drone and missile attacks on ships entering the Red Sea through the strait, saying they want to pressure Israel to end the war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. In response to the attacks, four major shipping companies, including two of the world's largest, said they were diverting their ships away from the Red Sea. On Saturday, a U.S. destroyer shot down 14 drones in the Red Sea launched from rebel-held areas of Yemen, the U.S. military said. Rebel spokesman Mohammed AbdulSalam said that neutral Oman had started mediation efforts to safeguard navigation along the waterway.
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