A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) caught fire after an explosion aboard, possibly after it was hit by a projectile, in the Gulf of Aden on Saturday.
The European Union Naval Force, which is patrolling in the region, said that 24 out of 26 crew members had been rescued by passing vessels after abandoning ship.
Amid conflicting reports about the cause of the fire, the British government agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said the ship was about 200km east of the Yemeni port of Aden when it was attacked.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been attacking foreign ships traversing the Red Sea corridor in the wake of the Gaza war. The group later denied involvement in Saturday’s incident while the Israeli military said it was aware of a strike on the ship, but that it did not carry out any operation in the area.
Maritime security firm Ambrey described the ship as a tanker that was “en route from Sohar, Oman, to Djibouti”.
The Associated Press reported that the ship appeared to be the Falcon, a Cameroon-flagged tanker that carries LNG. The Falcon has been identified previously as operating allegedly in an Iranian “ghost fleet” of ships moving their oil products in the high seas despite international sanctions. The ship's owners and operators, listed as being in India, could not be immediately reached for comment by AP.
Separately, on Saturday the Houthis stormed the United Nations compound in the capital Sanaa and detained UN staff.
