British maritime security firm Ambrey said on Saturday it had received information that a vessel had been targeted around 61 nautical miles southwest of Al-Hudaydah in Yemen. Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received a report of an incident at almost the same point where the captain of a vessel reported two missiles in the vicinity of the ship that did not cause damage. It said that one of the missiles mentioned in UKMTO's advisory note was intercepted by coalition forces defending commercial shipping in the region. The second hit the water a distance from the vessel, it added.There was no damage to the vessel, and the crew were reported safe, UKMTO said.
On Saturday, the European Union's naval mission in the southern Red Sea said it had intercepted a Houthi missile to protect merchant ships. The EU's mission, known as Aspides, said in a press release that the German frigate "Hessen" had intercepted a missile attack from Houthi-controlled territories. "The action performed by Hessen was effective, avoiding any damage to seafarers and merchant shipping", it added. Aspides was launched in February to help protect the key maritime trade route from drone and missile attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia, who say they are retaliating against Israel's war on Gaza.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicted on Saturday a widespread deterioration of food security and rising food prices in Yemen starting next month due to the escalation in the Red Sea. The organization said in its report on the Yemen Market and Trade Bulletin for March 2024, "Food insecurity is expected to deteriorate widely to emergency levels from June 2024 in the absence/decline of humanitarian food assistance, coinciding with the peak of the lean season, continued exchange rate volatility and local conflicts, and the worsening effects of the ongoing crisis in the Red Sea." The report explained that the rise in prices will limit the ability of most low-income families to access food and exacerbate food insecurity.
The leader of Yemen's Houthi movement, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, has said in a televised speech that 90 Israeli, US and British ships had been targeted in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean since the beginning of the Yemeni group's operations in November. The Houthi leader stated that the group continues with its military operations in the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean. "In just one month, the operations reached 34, carried out with 125 ballistic and winged missiles and drones," he said. Yemen's Houthi group has been targeting cargo ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli onslaught since 7 October, 2023.
