Yemen’s government stated that on Tuesday (August 11th), Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched an attack on a cargo ship in the Red Sea, resulting in six deaths and ten injuries.
The Yemeni Ministry of Transportation reported that on Tuesday, Houthi militants attacked a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, connecting the southern Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, causing the death of four crew members.
The ministry indicated that the ship, located south of the Yemeni Red Sea port city of Mocha, was hit by three ballistic missiles, resulting in a fire onboard and the deaths of four crew members, including three Pakistanis and one Indonesian.
Yemeni Coast Guard later stated that the target of the second missile was the rescue personnel trying to evacuate the crew members. Two of them died, both from the Yemeni government’s ally, the National Resistance Forces.
The Yemeni Coast Guard also mentioned that ten individuals were injured in the attack, including seven crew members, two Coast Guard personnel, and one member of the National Resistance Forces.
The Houthi rebels claimed that they targeted a ship carrying Saudi military equipment. This marks the first deadly attack on a commercial vessel by this Iran-supported armed group since the US and Israel began targeting Iran on February 28th.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations also reported an incident on Tuesday in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where a ship was hit by unspecified projectiles.
Reuters compared the deck and mast shape of the vessel with satellite images of the region and footage captured at the dock, confirming it to be the cargo ship “Tihamah.”
According to the maritime security company Ambrey, at the time of the incident, the ship was anchored northeast of Perim Island in Yemen.
Vanguard, a maritime risk management company, confirmed that the ship sailed under the Tanzanian flag, while the shipping tracking platform MarineTraffic indicated that the vessel was owned by an Egyptian operator.
The Yemeni Ministry of Transportation stated in a release that the “Tihamah” was a “Yemeni commercial ship,” while earlier reports by Iranian media claimed the ship “belongs to Saudi Arabia.”