Mohammad Sio
17 June 2026•Update: 17 June 2026
Armed assailants opened fire on a vessel off the coast of Yemen on Wednesday before disengaging after the ship's security team returned fire, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Center said.
“A vessel has been approached to within 4 meters and fired upon by 2 skiffs with an unknown number of armed persons on board,” UKMTO said in a statement.
The vessel deployed its security team, which returned fire, according to the statement.
UKMTO said the skiffs subsequently disengaged and moved to a distance of more than 4 nautical miles from the vessel.
“The crew are safe,” the maritime agency added.
No further details were immediately available regarding the identity of the attackers or whether the vessel sustained any damage.
The incident occurred in waters off Yemen that have witnessed repeated piracy incidents in past months.
