Saudi-led Arab coalition rescues 65 people in Yemen‏

The naval forces of an Arab coalition to support the legitimacy in Yemen has saved a ship carrying 65 people after it disappeared and suffered a technical problem at sea, the official Yemeni news agency Saba has reported.

A source said , according to Saba, that the vessel set out Wednesday on a journey from Yemen’s far eastern province of Al Mahra to Indian Ocean island of Socotra when it disappeared and its engine broke down.

The coalition’s naval forces launched a search and rescue mission for the ship that had veered of its course due to high-speed winds. After a 18-hour search, the vessel was found off Al Mahra and was towed to the port of Nashtoun after checking on the health of all people on board. The towing operation took 28 hours.

After disembarkation, the vessel’s 60 passengers and five crew members were provided with the necessary health care at a coalition-operated field hospital and another local hospital. They had suffered from severe exhaustion due to a shortage of water and food.

The 60 passengers included 11 women, seven children and 42 women, according to Saudi news portal Sabq.

Conflict in Yemen erupted after Iran-aligned Al Houthi extremists overran parts of the country, including the capital Sana’a, in late 2014.

In March 2015, a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in Yemen in response to a request from the Hadi government .