DUBAI (Reuters) -A merchant vessel off the Yemeni coast took on water and tilted to one side after being targeted with three missiles, British security firm Ambrey said on Tuesday.

The vessel issued a distress call stating it had sustained damage to the cargo hold and was taking on water about 54 nautical miles southwest of Yemen’s port city of Hodeidah, Ambrey said.

“According to the distress call, the vessel was listing,” it said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said separately on Tuesday that it had received a report of an incident 31 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah. It gave no further details.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile strikes in the Red Sea region since November, later expanding to the Indian Ocean, in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians.

(Reporting by Jana Choukeir and Tala Ramadan, Editing by Peter Graff and Timothy Heritage)