Four crew members and two rescuers were killed Tuesday in a Houthi missile attack on a cargo ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, according to Yemeni authorities. Separately, U.S. Central Command confirmed it disabled a Panama-flagged vessel, the Vela Nova, in the Gulf of Oman for violating a naval blockade.
Fatalities Reported in Bab el-Mandeb Attack
The attack on the cargo ship, identified by Reuters and WBAP as the Tihamah, occurred while the vessel was anchored northeast of Perim Island. Yemen’s Transportation Ministry stated that the strike killed four crew members—three Pakistanis and one Indonesian—and two members of the government-allied National Resistance Forces who were attempting a rescue.
The British maritime security firm Ambrey noted that the Tihamah had departed from the government-held port of al-Mokha on Saturday. While the Houthis claimed to have targeted a vessel carrying Saudi military equipment, Ambrey reported that the ship was not Saudi-owned or operated. LSEG data identifies the vessel’s owners and managers as Egyptian companies.
The Yemeni Coast Guard said two rescuers from the National Resistance Forces (NRF) were killed when the Houthis struck again after rescue crews arrived. Ten people were injured, including seven crew members, two Coast Guard personnel, and one NRF member, according to the Coast Guard. The Houthis declared a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea on July 20 in response to what they described as a Saudi siege. Riyadh denies that Yemen is under siege.
The U.S. military said it fired two missiles at the container ship in the Gulf of Oman, while Yemeni authorities described the Bab el-Mandeb incident as a Houthi attack. The British navy-affiliated agency UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reported one incident in the strait on Tuesday, saying a ship was hit by an unknown projectile. Reuters confirmed the cargo ship as the Tihamah by matching the shape of its deck and mast to archive imagery, with corroborating visuals from the dock aligning with satellite imagery and topography mapping of the area.
Ship-tracking data showed the vessel Tihamah near Murad, Yemen, on August 11. The date was verified by two Yemeni coast guard sources and two military officials in the government who said a small cargo ship was attacked by Houthis. British maritime security company Ambrey also said there was an attack on the vessel on August 11. The Yemeni ministry said the crew lost control of the vessel after being attacked.
U.S. Military Action in the Gulf of Oman
On the same day, U.S. Central Command forces intercepted the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova in the Gulf of Oman. According to Reuters, the U.S. military fired two Hellfire missiles to disable the ship’s steering gear after it ignored warnings to stop violating a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
The Vela Nova is the 12th vessel attacked by U.S. forces since the blockade was initially announced in April, and the third since it was reimposed on July 14. Charlie Brown, an advisor at the advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, noted that the vessel had recently visited ports in Mumbai and Port Klang, Malaysia. According to Reuters, the ship was believed to have been hit some 71 nautical miles (131 km) off Pakistan’s coast, as reported by UK maritime risk management group Vanguard.
“The reported U.S. disabling and stopping of the Panama-flagged Vela Nova near the blockade line in the Gulf of Oman, after its recent Mumbai port call alongside these vessels, underscores the heightened scrutiny now being applied to Iran-related shipping.”
Charlie Brown, senior advisor at United Against Nuclear Iran
Regional Shipping and Security Trends
Data from Kpler indicates that an average of 32 ships passed through the strait last week, a significant drop from the 50-ship daily average recorded before the Houthi-declared blockade began on July 20.
According to Reuters, only six ships passed through the strait on Monday, a sharp decrease from prewar levels of 130 to 140 ships per day.
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