Houthi strike on Red Sea cargo ship kills crew; US fires on ship breaching Iran blockade

Attack on the Tihamah

A small cargo ship, the Tanzania-flagged Tihamah, was attacked on Tuesday near the Bab el-Mandeb strait, off the coast of Yemen. The vessel was hit by an unknown projectile while at anchor 3.3 nautical miles northeast of Perim Island, according to British maritime security company Ambrey. UKMTO, the British navy-affiliated navigation monitoring agency, reported that a cargo vessel off the coast of al-Mokha had been hit, resulting in casualties. The ship had departed al-Mokha on Saturday and was sailing from Salalah in Oman via Djibouti. Ambrey noted that the vessel was not Saudi-owned or operated at the time of the attack. The Egyptian company that LSEG data lists as the owner and manager of the Tihamah did not respond to requests for comment.

Casualty count disputed

The death toll from the attack remains in flux. British maritime security firm Vanguard initially reported two crew members killed, one Pakistani and one Indonesian. Reuters and the Irish Independent, citing Yemeni coast guard sources and military officials, later reported three killed: two Pakistanis and one Indonesian. The pro-Saudi Yemeni government subsequently raised the toll to four dead, comprising three Pakistanis and one Indonesian, according to ANSA. If confirmed as a Houthi attack, the fatalities would be the first deaths in a Houthi strike on shipping since the Iran war began on February 28. The Houthis have not claimed the attack.

Yemeni navy caught in crossfire

After the initial strike, the crew lost control of the Tihamah and were approached by Yemeni coast guard, according to Yemeni sources cited by Reuters. The Yemeni navy vessel that came to assist was itself targeted by gunfire, and one Yemeni soldier was wounded, ANSA reported. The Yemeni government, which controls only a portion of national territory with the rest held by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement, accused the Houthis of carrying out the attack. The Yemeni civil war between pro-Saudi forces and Houthi militias has seen new flare-ups after a truce lasting several years, following US and Israeli attacks against Iran.

US fires on ship near Iran blockade

In a separate incident, a Panama-flagged container ship, the Vela Nova, was struck by a missile while sailing into the Gulf of Oman, approximately 71 nautical miles off Pakistan's coast. The Wall Street Journal reported that a US military helicopter fired a Hellfire missile at the ship's rudder after the crew ignored warnings and attempted to evade the US blockade of Iran-linked shipping. No casualties were reported. US Central Command did not immediately comment. If confirmed, the Vela Nova would be the 12th vessel attacked by US forces since the blockade was announced in April, and the third since it was reimposed on July 14.

Shipping traffic declining

The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on July 20, in response to what they described as a Saudi siege of Yemen. Riyadh denies that Yemen is under siege. Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb strait and Red Sea had already fallen by more than 50% since an earlier wave of Houthi attacks in 2023-25. Traffic has declined further since the Houthi blockade was announced: an average of 32 ships per day passed through the strait last week, according to Kpler data, down from an average of 50 before the blockade. Attacks in the strait have increased uncertainty for shipping companies already affected by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.