Security firm: Merchant ship hit in Red Sea off Yemen in apparent Houthi attack

Vessel’s engine room hit, say maritime sources, in latest disruption of vital trade route terrorized by Iran-backed Houthi rebels

Illustrative: Yemeni youths march during a ceremony in the capital Sanaa marking the end of summer camps organized by the country's Houthi rebels, June 9, 2024. (Mohammed Huwais / AFP)
Illustrative: Yemeni youths march during a ceremony in the capital Sanaa marking the end of summer camps organized by the country's Houthi rebels, June 9, 2024. (Mohammed Huwais / AFP)

A merchant ship issued a distress call after being struck in the Red Sea off Yemen, a security firm said on Wednesday, in what appeared to be the latest attack by Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

The ship was hit about 68 nautical miles (110 km) southwest of the rebel-held port city of Hodeida, maritime security firm Ambrey said.

The company “assessed the vessel aligned with the Houthi target profile at the time of the incident,” it said in a statement, without giving further details.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, part of the Britsh Royal Navy, said the ship had been hit by a small craft.

The vessel has sustained damage in what appeared to be a deliberate attack, two maritime sources said on condition of anonymity, adding that the engine room was hit.

The ship’s Greek manager was not immediately available for comment.

Illustrative: A truck carries a model Quran during a graduate students’ parade in support of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Sanaa, Yemen, June 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)

The Houthis, who are at war with a Saudi-led coalition after ousting the government from the capital Sanaa in 2014, have launched scores of drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November.

They say they are harassing the vital trade route as an act of solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza, which was sparked by Hamas’s shock October 7 onslaught in which thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel to kill nearly 1,200 people and take over 250 hostages.

The group’s attacks in the Red Sea have drawn joint US-UK retaliatory strikes since February. On Tuesday, the US Central Command announced on social media that its forces had destroyed two anti-ship cruise missile launchers in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen.

According to CENTCOM, the missile launchers “presented an imminent threat to US and coalition forces and to merchant vessels transiting the region.”

The Houthis have also struck Israel directly. A ballistic missile apparently launched by the Iran-backed rebels was shot down by Israel’s long-range Arrow air-defense as recently as June 3.

The rebels’ projectiles have reportedly all either missed their mark or been intercepted, except for a cruise missile that hit an open area near Eilat in March.

On Monday, the Houthis claimed to have arrested an Israeli-American “spy network” operating under the guise of United Nations humanitarian organizations. UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Tuesday flatly rejected the “outrageous” claim, demanding that the staff be released “immediately and unconditionally.”

Most Popular
read more: