An oil tanker has come under fire off Yemen while passing through the strategic Bab al-Mandab strait into the Red Sea, AFP reported Thursday (June 1st).
The shipping lane connecting the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean beyond is a key transit route for oil and gas from the Gulf.
Three rocket-propelled grenades were fired at the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker from a boat on Wednesday morning, the coalition supporting the Yemeni government said in a statement.
"None of the crew was hurt," said the coalition statement carried by official Saudi Press Agency, adding that the tanker had sailed on into the Red Sea.
It was not clear if any of the RPGs hit the ship.
The attack happened near Perim, or Mayun in Arabic, an island that commands the strategic strait and has been controlled by coalition forces since 2015 when they seized it from Yemeni opposition fighters.
The coalition, which has in the past accused the Houthis (Ansarallah) of threatening the security of ships passing through the strait, said it was investigating who was behind the latest attack.
The Houthis control most of Yemen's Red Sea coastline, although a government offensive launched at the start of the year has pushed them away from the strait itself.
