Unknown projectile strikes tanker, UKMTO probes Gulf of Aden attack

A vessel was struck and caught fire Saturday in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen after being hit by an unknown projectile, officials said, as maritime security sources linked the incident to a pattern of attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor. The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center issued an alert and said authorities were investigating. The group that has carried out most recent attacks in the area, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, did not immediately claim responsibility.

Maritime security firm Ambrey identified the vessel as the Falcon, a Cameroon-flagged tanker reportedly carrying liquefied petroleum gas from Sohar, Oman, to Djibouti. Ambrey said radio traffic suggested the crew was preparing to abandon ship and that a search-and-rescue effort was under way. The strike was reported roughly 60 nautical miles, or about 110 kilometers, south of the Yemeni port of Ahwar; UKMTO’s alert placed the incident about 210 kilometers east of Aden.

The Saturday attack followed a separate incident earlier in the week in which an unknown projectile landed off the side of a vessel off the coast of Hodeida in the Red Sea, the British military center said. That earlier...