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Iran-aligned Houthi militants have launched a series of attacks
on international shipping near Yemen since last November in
solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and
Hamas.
The Sounion reported being approached by two small craft with
about 15 people on board and said there was a brief exchange of
small arms fire during the incident 77 nautical miles (142 km)
west of Yemen's port of Hodeidah, the United Kingdom Maritime
Trade Operations said.
Sounion, a Greek-flagged vessel with 25 crew members, lost the
ability to manoeuvre as a result of the attack, UKMTO added, and
the Greek shipping ministry said in a statement the vessel had
been damaged.
It also said there were no reports of injuries among the foreign
crew - two Russians and the rest Filipinos.
British security firm Ambrey separately reported another
incident in the same area, saying "the vessel was engaged by
small arms fire from two skiffs in a previous incident 10NM
further south", it said, without naming the ship involved.
Delta Tankers, which operates the Sounion, confirmed it has been
involved in "a hostile incident" in the Red Sea and has suffered
minor damage.
"The crew and vessel are safe and unharmed. The vessel is
currently adrift while the crew assess damage before the vessel
will continue on its onward journey," it said.
The attacks on shipping have drawn U.S. and British retaliatory
strikes on Houthi territories and disrupted global trade as ship
owners reroute vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal to
sail the longer route around the southern tip of Africa.
(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Clauda Tanios in Dubai and
Yannis Souliotis and Renee Maltezou in Athens;Editing by Jason
Neely, Sharon Singleton and Helen Popper)
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