Suspected Houthi Attack Kills Three

PHOTO CAPTION: FILE PHOTO: Boats are pictured on the shore of Bab el-Mandeb, Yemen, April 2, 2026. REUTERS/File Photo

Aug. 11 — Three crew members were killed in a suspected Houthi attack on a small cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday, while a separate container ship was struck by a missile off Pakistan in what sources said was a suspected U.S. attack.

The deaths aboard the Egyptian-owned Tihamah, if confirmed, would be the first fatalities from a Houthi strike on shipping since the Iran war began on Feb. 28. Yemeni sources said two Pakistanis and one Indonesian were killed, though the Houthis had not claimed responsibility for the attack.

After the strike, the Tihamah’s crew lost control of the vessel and was approached by the Yemeni coastguard, the sources said. Yemeni forces then came under fire, according to British maritime risk management group Vanguard.

The British navy-linked UK Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, said it received a report that the ship had been hit by an unknown projectile. British maritime security group Ambrey said the incident occurred while the vessel was anchored northeast of Yemen’s Perim Island.

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.

Container ship hit off Pakistan

Separately, the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova was struck by a missile while sailing toward the Gulf of Oman, maritime security sources told Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal reported that a U.S. helicopter attacked the ship with a Hellfire missile aimed at its rudder after the vessel attempted to evade a U.S. blockade of Iran-linked shipping in the region. U.S. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If confirmed as a U.S. attack, it would be the 12th vessel struck by U.S. forces since the blockade was announced in April and the third since it was reimposed on July 14.

Charlie Brown, senior adviser at the U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, said the Vela Nova had recently called at ports in Mumbai and Port Klang, Malaysia, where Iran-linked vessels had also been observed.

“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,” Brown said.

Vanguard said the ship was believed to have been struck about 71 nautical miles off Pakistan’s coast. UKMTO also said it had received a report of an incident involving a container ship.

Shipping traffic falls

Commercial traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait and Red Sea has fallen by more than 50% since an earlier wave of Houthi attacks on shipping from 2023 to 2025.

Traffic declined further after the Houthis announced their blockade last month, with an average of 32 ships per day transiting the strait last week, according to Kpler data, down from an average of 50 before the blockade.

Ambrey said the cargo ship identified by sources as the Tihamah was neither Saudi-owned nor operated and had departed the Yemeni government-held port of al-Mokha on Saturday. LSEG data lists Egyptian companies as the vessel’s owners and managers, but neither responded to Reuters requests for comment.

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has been even more disrupted. Just six vessels passed through on Monday, compared with a 10-day average of about 11 and prewar levels of roughly 130 to 140.

(Source: Reuters)