6 Killed, 10 Injured In Suspected Houthi Attack On Cargo Ship Near Bab el-Mandeb

Six people were killed and 10 others injured after suspected Houthi strikes hit an Egyptian-owned cargo ship near Yemen’s Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, according to Yemeni authorities.

Four crew members died in the first strike on the cargo ship Tihamah. Two rescuers were later killed when a second strike hit the area during an operation to evacuate the crew, Yemen’s Coast Guard said.

If confirmed, the deaths would be the first reported fatalities from a Houthi attack on commercial shipping since the Iran war began on Feb. 28.

Four crew members killed

Yemen’s Transport Ministry said the crew lost control of the Tihamah after the vessel was attacked.

Three Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian national were among those killed, the ministry said.

The Coast Guard said the first attack started a fire on the ship and caused extensive damage. Seven crew members were among the 10 people injured.

Two Coast Guard personnel and one member of Yemen’s National Resistance Forces were also injured.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government blamed the Houthis for the attack.

The Transport Ministry said it held the group responsible for the deaths, injuries and damage to the Tihamah.

Two rescuers killed in second strike

The Coast Guard said a second strike hit after rescue teams arrived to evacuate the crew.

Two rescuers from the National Resistance Forces, an anti-Houthi military group, were killed, it said.

The British navy-affiliated UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported on Tuesday that a ship in the Bab el-Mandeb had been hit by an unknown projectile.

Maritime security company Ambrey said the incident happened while the vessel was anchored northeast of Perim Island.

Vessel identified as Tihamah

Reuters identified the vessel as the Tihamah by comparing images of its deck and mast with archive images of the ship.

Ship-tracking data showed the vessel near Murad, Yemen, on Aug. 11. Two Yemeni Coast Guard sources and two government military officials said a small cargo ship had been attacked by the Houthis.

Ambrey also reported an attack on a vessel on Aug. 11.

The ship was not Saudi-owned or operated, Ambrey said. It had departed the Yemeni government-held port of Al Mokha on Saturday.

LSEG data lists Egyptian companies as the owners and managers of the vessel. The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Houthis did not name the Tihamah when they later said they had attacked a vessel carrying Saudi military equipment in the Bab el-Mandeb.

The Saudi Center for International Communication did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Houthi maritime embargo

The Houthis announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on July 20.

The group said the move was in response to what it described as a Saudi siege of Yemen. Saudi Arabia denies that Yemen is under siege.

Shipping through the Bab el-Mandeb and Red Sea has fallen by more than 50% since an earlier wave of Houthi attacks on commercial vessels between 2023 and 2025.

Kpler data showed an average of 32 ships a day passed through the Bab el-Mandeb last week, compared with about 50 before the latest blockade.

Strait of Hormuz traffic also falls

Shipping traffic has also dropped sharply through the Strait of Hormuz.

Only six ships passed through the strait on Monday, compared with a 10-day average of about 11 and prewar levels of roughly 130 to 140 ships a day.

References: Reuters, Firstpost