By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-01-29 02:51:30 | Updated at 2025-01-30 06:55:48
1 day ago
An explosion that struck a Hong Kong-flagged container ship travelling north through the Red Sea sparked a major fire, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel, shipping industry officials said.
The ship was drifting and ablaze on Wednesday some 225km (140 miles) off the coast of Hodeida, a port city in Yemen held by the country’s Houthi rebels, said the Diaplous Group, a maritime firm. It did not name the vessel.
Data from Nasa satellites tracking wildfires showed the blaze burning on Tuesday and Wednesday off Eritrea’s Dahlak Archipelago corresponded to satellite-tracking data from MarineTraffic.com for the location of the ASL Bauhinia, a Hong Kong-flagged container ship. It had been travelling from the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port in Dubai to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, before beginning to drift on Tuesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the fire in the Red Sea, which has been repeatedly targeted by attacks from the Houthis. The rebels said last week they were limiting their assaults following a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war. The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the fire incident.
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The vessel was abandoned and the crew later rescued unharmed, said another maritime industry official. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as authorisation had not been given to speak publicly about the incident.
