Barely one week after the Biden administration proudly announced the formation of an international coalition to protect freedom of navigation for ships transiting the Red Sea amid escalating attacks on vessels from Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, its failure to deter aggression is already apparent.
On Tuesday alone, there were two separate incidents reported from the ships on the Red Sea, one involving missiles and another involving unmanned aircraft.
According to a bulletin from UK Maritime Trade Operations, one incident was reported by a vessel in the Red Sea "approximately 60 NM from Al Hudaydah" on Yemen's coast Tuesday. An explosion was heard, missiles were sighted within four miles of the reporting vessel, and another explosion was seen in the water within half a mile of the ship.
UKMTO WARNING 022/DEC/2023 UPDATE 001https://t.co/Z0vTdolDwv#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/GVQvCC1jLH
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) December 26, 2023
UKMTO said that the reporting vessel and crew were safe and "vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity."
Before the missiles and explosion were spotted, UKMTO "received two reports of UAS sightings" from a vessel transiting the Red Sea. According to the reports, "15 minutes after sighting, two explosions were observed" around 5 miles from the vessel in the same area off Yemen's west coast where the missiles were later spotted.
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UKMTO WARNING 021/DEC/2023 UPDATE 001https://t.co/Z0vTdolDwv#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/YO4FeFYetF
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) December 26, 2023
These explosions also did not damage the reporting vessel or harm its crew, according to a subsequent update from UKMTO, and the ship continued on its journey through the Red Sea.
Over the weekend, UKMTO warned of other attempted attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, including multiple on December 23 that saw unmanned aircraft detonating near vessels sailing near the Bab al-Mandab Strait between Yemen, Djibouti, and Eritrea.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
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