The crew left a cargo ship attacked by a missile off Yemen
The True Confidence was drifting with a fire on board after being hit at about 09:30 GMT, the ship's manager said.
The BBC's US partner CBS quoted US officials as saying the attack was likely to have caused fatalities.
Yemen's Houthi movement, which has been attacking shipping, has not commented.
The Iran-backed group says the attacks are a show of support for the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Before Wednesday's incident, the Barbados-flagged True Confidence had been hailed by a group calling itself the "Yemeni navy" and told to change course, Ambrey said.
Nearby vessels then reported a loud bang and a large plume of smoke, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency.
The attack happened about 50 nautical miles (93km) south-west of the Yemeni city of Aden, a spokesman for the ship's owners and managers said in a statement.
The spokesman said he had no information about the condition of the ship's crew.
A US official told Reuters news agency that smoke was seen coming off the True Confidence and a lifeboat was seen in the water.
The UKMTO said the vessel had been abandoned and was no longer under command.
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