CAIRO (Reuters) -British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Sunday that a Liberia-flagged Israeli-owned tanker reported an explosion nearby, southwest of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port city of Yanbu.
A vessel reported “a splash in close proximity from an unknown projectile and heard a loud bang”, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said, adding that the vessel’s crew were all safe and it was continuing to its next voyage.
In a later update, Ambrey said it assessed the vessel to be “aligned with” the targets of Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis’ profile given that it was publicly Israeli-owned.
Since 2023, the Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea that they deem to be affiliated with Israel in what they describe as support of Palestinians in Gaza.
It was not immediately clear if the Houthis were involved, and the group did not provide immediate comment on the reported incident.
UKMTO did not identify the party responsible, but said authorities were investigating.
Yanbu is a port city located on Western Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.
Saudi Arabia led a coalition that launched a military campaign in Yemen from early 2015 to support the Gulf-backed government against the Houthis, who had seized the capital Sanaa in 2014.
The coalition has in the past foiled attempted assaults using explosive-laden boats it says were launched by the Houthis.
(Reporting by Jaidaa Taha and Ahmed Tolba; Editing by Nia Williams and Diane Craft)
