Explosion forces crew to abandon Hong Kong-flagged ship in Red Sea

An explosion struck a Hong Kong-flagged container ship travelling through the Red Sea on Tuesday, sparking a major fire that forced its crew to abandon the vessel, shipping industry officials said. The ship was drifting and ablaze 225km off the coast of Hodeidah, 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 tracking data from MarineTraffic.com for the location of the ASL Bauhinia, a Hong Kong-flagged container ship.