A British-owned cargo vessel has been attacked in the Red Sea, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
The ship was attacked west of Hodeida in Yemen just after midnight on Tuesday.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Associated Press reports Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen are suspected.
The UKMTO said the ship’s master was “aware of a small craft on his Port side” before a projectile was fired at the ship.
No crew were injured and the vessel sustained small damages to its bridge windows.
The vessel was deemed safe to continue its journey.
Maritime security firm Ambrey identified the vessel as a Barbados-flagged general cargo ship owned by a British company, saying it incurred physical damage from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) while sailing southeast through the Red Sea.
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On Monday, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told the Commons the UK would not hesitate to respond again “in self-defence” to Houthi attacks in Yemen.
He was updating MPs after the UK and the US took part in joint airstrikes against Houthi sites on Saturday.
Mr Shapps said the attacks were in line with international law and in self-defence and had targeted “three military facilities” hitting “11 separate targets” identified following “very careful analysis”.
Attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to reroute to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa – while stoking fears the Israel-Hamas war could spread and destabilise the wider Middle East.
