DUBAI, July 24 (Reuters) – People in a wooden boat opened fire on a Comoros-flagged livestock carrier in the Red Sea near Yemen on Thursday, and the vessel was detained by the Yemeni Coast Guard, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

A maritime security official in the Yemeni government told Reuters the vessel was released after being held on suspicion, with naval forces concerned because its AIS tracking system was turned off and it was sailing north from the Horn of Africa.

British security firm Ambrey said the vessel, traveling from Bosaso, Somalia, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, reported having received instructions to proceed to Mocha. It did not make clear who had given the instructions.

The security firm advised vessels not to transit east of the Hanish Islands, 30 nautical miles to the northwest of Mocha, a port city on Yemen’s Red Sea coast, and to maintain a safe distance from small boat activity.

Since Israel’s war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas began in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians.

Israel has responded by launching attacks on Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Houthis for Thursday’s attack.

(Reporting by Ahmed Elimam and Tala Ramadan and Jana Choukeir in Dubai, and Mohammad Ghobari in Aden, Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Philippa Fletcher and Ed Osmond)

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2025.

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