Bulgaria's Dry Cargo Ship Believed to Be Seized Off Coast of Yemen - Reports

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Bulgarian dry cargo ship Ruen is believed to have been seized off the coast of Yemen, Bulgarian broadcaster BNT reported Thursday, citing the shipping company.

The report cited Bulgarian company Navigation Maritime Bulgare, which owns Ruen, as saying that the incident with the Maltese-flagged ship occurred 380 miles east of Yemen's Socotra Island in the Arabian Sea.

The ship has a crew of 18 people, including eight Bulgarian citizens, as well as nationals of Angola and Myanmar, the report said. The broadcaster cited Alexander Kalchev, the company's CEO, as saying that there was no communication with the crew.

It is unknown whether the attack on the ship was carried out by Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, or Somalia's pirates.

The Houthis have earlier said that they would continue to prevent the passage of ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea linked to Israeli companies or bound for Israel until Israel's military action in the Palestinian Gaza Strip ends.

After the conflict broke out between Israel and Palestinian movement Hamas on October 7, the Houthis have conducted multiple missile and drone attacks, threatening civilian infrastructure in Israel and commercial shipping operating in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.