Explosion damages vessel carrying wheat to #Yemen | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-yemen-security-ship/explosion-damages-vessel-carrying-wheat-to-yemen-idUSKBN1IC2CX
An explosion has damaged a Turkish vessel carrying wheat to Yemen’s Houthi-controlled port of Saleef, with varying accounts attributing the incident on Thursday to an unexplained blast aboard the ship or a possible missile strike.
A naval ship of a Saudi-led military coalition received a call from the captain of the vessel, the Ince Inebolu, who reported an opening had appeared in the middle of the ship on the left side, a spokesman for the alliance said.
“Coalition forces conducted a survey of the incident and visited the ship and found an explosion from the inside to the outside,” the spokesman said in a statement.
The captain said he did not know the cause of the damage, the spokesman said. The coalition later towed the ship to the port of Jizan in Saudi Arabia.
A shipping source said separately it was possible the damage was either caused by overheating of parts of the ship or a missile.
A separate source connected with the shipment said the vessel was carrying 50,000 tons of Russian milling wheat, adding that it was unclear if it was hit by a missile or due to an internal blast, while anchored about 70 miles off Saleef, which is just north of the port of Hodeidah on the Red Sea.
The ship was in a waiting area, the source said, where vessels typically anchor for permission to dock.
