SANAA, March 6 (Xinhua) -- An entity in Yemen declaring itself to be the Yemeni Navy prevented a cargo vessel from transiting the Red Sea, the UK Maritime Trade Operations Agency (UKMTO) reported on Wednesday.
"UKMTO received a report of a merchant vessel being hailed over VHF (Radio communication frequency) for approximately 30 minutes by an entity declaring itself to be the Yemeni Navy, ordering the merchant vessel to alter course in the vicinity of 50 nautical miles southwest of Aden, Yemen," the British maritime agency said on its website.
Also, another U.S.-registered commercial cargo vessel was attacked on Wednesday morning with anti-ship missiles in the same area, according to Yemeni local media outlets. There were no reports of casualties yet.
The Yemeni armed Houthi group has made no comment yet via its satellite TV channel al-Masirah.
The Houthis have been targeting shipping vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, particularly those with suspected links to Israel, since November last year, in what they said was an act of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza. ■
