A merchant ship was on fire after being struck about 55 miles southeast of Aden, Yemen, maritime intelligence firm Ambrey Analytics said.

The incident is ongoing, the firm said in a notice, though the precise details surrounding it were unclear. The area in question and the southern Red Sea have been the center of multiple attacks on ships by Houthi militants in recent weeks. The UK Navy also said it had a report of an incident, and advised vessels to transit with caution. 

Since mid-November, the Houthis have launched near daily attacks on vessels transiting the Red Sea, in an act of solidarity with Palestinians amid the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas. The conflict has rerouted trade flows as some shippers avoid the key waterway.

READ: Houthis Fire Missile Close to a Tanker Hauling Russian Oil

Earlier Friday, missiles exploded near a Panama-flagged, India-affiliated ship carrying barrels from Russia, according to Ambrey. Although a Houthi spokesman told the Russian newspaper Izvestia last week that Russian and Chinese ships sailing through the Red Sea would be safe, Friday’s attack was the third in the vicinity of a vessel that had previously called on a Russian port. 

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