On 5th September, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) revealed that a fraudulent group has been posing as them, asking commercial ships to disclose their locations in the Red Sea, an area where tensions have escalated following Houthi attacks.
In particular, the agency said that it has been made aware of an entity declaring itself to be from the UKMTO and requesting vessels to switch on their AIS and provide present position update.
UKMTO recommends masters verify any calls from UKMTO.
..UKMTO said.
UKMTO ADVISORY INCIDENT 120 – SECURITY NOTIFICATIONhttps://t.co/9mpjFXH9pe#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/wKqveVOvvc
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) September 4, 2024
Furthermore, on 6th September UKMTO received a time late report from the CSO that a vessel was approached from the east by a small blue and white skiff, 60 NMs southwest of the port of Al Hudaydah. The skiff had 3 personnel onboard, one was navigating and the other two was looking through binoculars. The skiff got to 400 metres of the vessel and changed direction when the armed security team displayed their weapons.
UKMTO ADVISORY INICIDENT 121 – SUSPICIOUS APPROACHhttps://t.co/XUPzUvlaIg#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/vErTjyAhF5
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) September 6, 2024
