Some crew have abandoned ship and others are reported missing after a missile attack on a cargo vessel off in the Gulf of Aden off Yemen, maritime security firm Ambrey says.

The True Confidence was drifting with a fire on board after being hit at about 09:30 GMT, the ship's manager said.

The BBC's US partner CBS quoted US officials as saying the attack was likely to have caused fatalities.

Yemen's Houthi movement, which has been attacking shipping, has not commented.

The Iran-backed group says the attacks are a show of support for the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Before Wednesday's incident, the Barbados-flagged True Confidence had been hailed by a group calling itself the "Yemeni navy" and told to change course, Ambrey said.

Nearby vessels then reported a loud bang and a large plume of smoke, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency.

The attack happened about 50 nautical miles (93km) south-west of the Yemeni city of Aden, a spokesman for the ship's owners and managers said in a statement.

The spokesman said he had no information about the condition of the ship's crew.

A US official told Reuters news agency that smoke was seen coming off the True Confidence and a lifeboat was seen in the water.

The UKMTO said the vessel had been abandoned and was no longer under command.

Rescue and salvage operations were under way and some of the crew were in lifeboats, the EU's Maritime Security Centre-Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) said, adding that naval ships were providing assistance.

The True Confidence is owned by True Confidence Shipping SA, which is registered to an address in Liberia, operated by Third January Maritime Ltd in Greece and has no current connection with any US entity, according to the spokesman for the owners and managers.

It had a crew of 20, comprising one Indian, four Vietnamese and 15 Filipino nationals. Three armed guards - two from Sri Lanka and one from Nepal - were also on board.

The bulk carrier had been sailing to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from Lianyungang in China, tracking data showed, and was carrying a cargo of steel products and trucks, the spokesman said.

On Sunday, a Belize-flagged cargo ship, Rubymar, sank in the Red Sea two weeks after hit by missiles fired by Houthis. It was the first ship to have been sunk since the Houthi attacks began in November.

The Rubymar was near the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea, when it was attacked. The crew was rescued and the vessel began slowly taking on water.

It was carrying a cargo of 21 tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser, which the US military said presented an environmental risk in the Red Sea.

US and British forces have responded to the drone and missile attacks on merchant vessels passing through the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by targeting Houthi weapons and infrastructure in western Yemen.

Source:
courtesy of BBC NEWS

by Tom Spender & Joshua Cheetham | BBC News & BBC Verify

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