Cairo: Egypt has denied any link to a ship targeted off Yemen earlier this week, while condemning attacks on ships and maritime navigation in the Red Sea. The country's transport ministry stated on Thursday that reports associating the targeted vessel with Egypt or its ports were unfounded.

According to TRTworld.com, the denial followed reports from media outlets and social media that Yemen's Houthi group had targeted a ship off the Yemeni coast, with claims that the operating company's address was in Alexandria, northern Egypt. The vessel was reportedly flying the Tanzanian flag, owned by a Yemeni national, and operated by a company based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, as per the ministry's statement.

The ministry clarified that the ship was not registered with Egyptian shipping chambers and had not received a license to conduct maritime agency work through Egypt's maritime transport and logistics sector. It further noted that the ship had never entered Egyptian ports, was not heading to Egypt, and did not carry any cargo belonging to Egyptians.

In a separate statement, Egypt's foreign ministry condemned the targeting of ships in the Red Sea. It referenced a Yemeni commercial ship flying the Tanzanian flag that was attacked with missiles while sailing off Yemen's coast south of Mokha port in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, as well as a Saudi oil tanker targeted on July 25.

The foreign ministry highlighted that such attacks pose a significant threat to the security and safety of navigation in the Red Sea, which is considered one of the world's most crucial international waterways. Egypt reiterated its absolute rejection of all acts targeting ships and civilian facilities or threatening the security and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and international waterways.

Attacks in the Red Sea often lead to reduced traffic through Egypt's Suez Canal, resulting in financial losses for Cairo as ships opt for alternative routes to avoid security risks. Since July 20, tensions have escalated in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden after the Houthis announced a naval blockade on ships linked to Saudi Arabia.

Three days after the blockade announcement, Riyadh reported an attack on one of its ships and subsequently conducted strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen's western Hudaydah province, claiming they were used to threaten maritime navigation. Saudi Arabia also declared the formation of a defensive naval coalition to safeguard freedom of navigation in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, including countries such as the US, Yemen, Kuwait, Oman, Jordan, Sudan, Morocco, the Maldives, Bangladesh, and New Zealand.