Vietnam condemns attacks on international shipping routes

"Vietnam strongly condemns violent, inhmane assault behaviors towards innocent civilians and civil vessels on international maritime routes," Hang said.

The condemnation comes in the wake of an incident where a Vietnamese national and two Filipinos were killed during missile strikes by Yemen's Houthi forces on a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden, according to the U.S. military.

"We demand relevant parties to immediately cease the use of force, ensure security, safety and maritime freedom for international maritime routes in accordance with international law," she added.

Vietnamese representatives would be in contact with local authorities to deploy citizen protection measures and ensure their rights and interests.

The Hai Phong Marine Services and Trading Investment company (HP Marine) had signed contracts for the Vietnamese to work on the ship, according to the Vietnam Maritime Administration. The deceased Vietnamese was 41-year-old Dang Duy Kien from Hai Phong.

The other three Vietnamese are 39-year-old Pham Van Thanh from Hai Phong, 36-year-old Nguyen Van Tao from Hai Duong, and 33-year-old Phung Van An from Thai Binh. They have all been brought to the LeLaurier hotel in Djibouti.

The True Confidence is under the possession of Liberian maritime company True Confidence Shipping, and was being operated by the Greek company January Maritime.

This was so far the first fatal attack since Houthi forces, who call their movement Ansar Allah (partisans of God) began assaulting international shipping through the Red Sea in protest of Israel's bombardment of Gaza.