Yemen's Houthi rebels struck two commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden at the weekend.
Nordeney was the first vessel to be hit by an unknown projectile at a position roughly 40 nautical miles southwest of Aden at 8 pm (GMT) on Saturday, according to MKMTO. No injuries were reported aboard and the vessel continued safely on its journey.
The second attack took place when a projectile hit the vessel MSC Tavvishi at a position about 70 nautical miles southwest of Aden at 11:40 pm (GMT) on Saturday, according to UMKTO. An unknown projectile hit the vessel and a fire broke out.
MSC Tavvishi’s master reported that damage control efforts were under way and that she was sailing to her next port of call. All crew members were reported to be safe.
UMKTO reported a third missile attack when the Nordeney was struck for a second time at 2.30 pm (GMT) on Sunday. No injuries were reported and the vessel continued on its journey to its next port of call. The attack occurred about 90 nautical miles to the southwest of Aden, near Djibouti.
The weekend strikes come after a report of an unsuccessful attempted attack on Friday when the master of AAL Genoa reported two explosions near the vessel at a position about 27 nautical miles to the southwest of Al Mukha. No injuries were reported.
US Central Command has not yet confirmed the attacks, although on Friday it reported that its forces had observed four ballistic missile launches from Yemen over the Red Sea but none had been successful in hitting any targets.
