No group immediately claimed an attack. Since November, Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels have fired drones and missiles at ships they deem to be affiliated with Israel.

They say their campaign is in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip where Israel is battling Hamas militants.

"The vessel was listed as operated by the Israeli company ZIM Integrated Shipping Services," Ambrey said but added "this may have been an out-of-date affiliation".

It said the "container ship was targeted approximately 88 miles (163 kilometres) southeast of Aden, Yemen" en route to Djibouti from Singapore.

"The vessel was reportedly struck and issued a distress signal," Ambrey said.

"It remained unconfirmed whether the vessel was directly impacted or sustained damage due to nearby explosions."

The maritime security agency UKMTO, run by the Royal Navy, reported an incident in a similar location at 91 nautical miles southeast of Aden. It said the ship's master had reported two explosions, one "a distance off the vessel's port quarter" and a second which "caused damage to the vessel".

UKMTO said there were no casualties reported, but the crew were tackling a fire onboard.

Later, the Huthis said in a statement they had targeted "an Israeli ship MSC SKY in the Arabian Sea" with missiles and that "the hit was accurate and direct".

The online ship tracking service Marine Traffic showed the MSC Sky II, a Liberian-flagged container ship, in the Gulf of Aden on Monday afternoon.

UKMTO and Ambrey did not name the ship in their reports.

The United States and Britain have since January launched repeated strikes on Huthi targets in Yemen in response to the Huthis' attacks.

But the rebels have continued targeting shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea, and have declared American and British ships to be legitimate targets.

Yemen's government on Saturday said a cargo ship loaded with fertiliser had sunk in the Gulf of Aden less than two weeks after it was damaged by Huthi missiles.

The attacks have caused several major shipping firms to suspend passage through the Red Sea, which usually carries around 12 percent of global trade, and divert vessels thousands of miles around Africa.