Yemen Monitor / Newsroom
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported on Wednesday a security incident targeting a commercial vessel in waters near the port of Balhaf in the eastern Yemeni governorate of Shabwa, with no reports of damage or of the vessel being seized.
The authority stated that an armed group of six individuals on board a small boat approached the vessel and attempted to intercept it, before the situation escalated into an exchange of gunfire between the two sides.
The authority provided no further details regarding the identity of the attackers or the nationality of the vessel, nor did it indicate whether there were any injuries resulting from the incident.
This development comes at a time when maritime routes from the Strait of Hormuz to Bab el-Mandeb are experiencing heightened security tensions, amid growing warnings of the risks of attacks on commercial ships and a resurgence of piracy activity in parts of the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
