British maritime security company Ambrey said on Tuesday that a ship was hit by three missiles off the coast of Yemen, before it issued a distress call.
Ambrey explained that she was aware of an incident 54 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni city of Hodeidah, adding that “the ship noted in its distress call that damage had been caused to a cargo storage section, and that there was a water leak.”
The call reported that the ship began to tilt to one side.
Earlier Tuesday, China called for an end to attacks on civilian ships in the Red Sea and to ensure the safety of navigation there, during a meeting of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi with his Yemeni counterpart in Beijing on Tuesday.
Wang said China is willing to continue to play a constructive role in this matter, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.
On Monday, US Central Command said that US forces destroyed a drone over the Red Sea that had been launched from an area in Yemen controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthi group.
The movement, classified as terrorist in the United States, launched several attacks with drones and missiles in the Red Sea region since November, before expanding to the Indian Ocean, declaring its intention to attack any Israeli ship or one linked to Israel.
But many of the ships attacked by the Houthis had nothing to do with Israel.
The Houthi attacks forced shipping companies to change the course of ships to longer and more expensive trips around southern Africa, and also raised fears of the expansion of the war between Israel and Hamas, affecting the stability of the Middle East.
The United States and Britain launched attacks on Houthi targets, in response to the targeting of ships and to protect navigation in the Red Sea.
