UKMTO Warning 106-26 recorded a tanker master hearing a loud explosion in close proximity about 95 nautical miles southeast of Aden at 1430 UTC Wednesday. All crew were accounted for. No environmental impact was reported. Authorities are investigating. [1]

That is a bang near a hull. It is not a named strike. Maritime Executive called it the first apparent attempt in the Gulf of Aden since the Houthi campaign against Saudi ports widened last month. The ship sat well south of the usual Bab el-Mandeb lane. [2]

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea claimed a ballistic shot at the Dominica-flagged, Saudi-operated tanker Daisy in the Gulf of Aden. [3] UKMTO did not name Daisy. It did not confirm a hit. A claim and a master report can share a day without sharing a fact.

Readers who merge those wires will invent a sinking. Wednesday's completed record is an explosion heard, a crew safe, and a name still unposted.

Nation Press and other wires repeated the 95-mile figure and the safe crew. [2] Houthis said they would tighten the naval blockade after Saudi tankers tried Suez to dodge the southern Red Sea. [3] A louder claim does not convert a heard explosion into a named hull.

-- YOSEF STERN, Jerusalem