The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said on Thursday it had received a report of an explosion near a vessel 85 nautical miles east of Yemen’s port city of Aden.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against international commercial shipping in the Red Sea and Bab al-Mandab Strait since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

Their targets have been vessels with commercial ties to the United States, Britain or Israel, shipping and insurance sources say.

The attacks have prompted several companies to halt Red Sea journeys and opt for a longer and more expensive route around Africa, and US and British warplanes have carried out retaliatory strikes across Yemen.