Yemen's Transport Ministry reported that four crew members died in an attack on a cargo vessel by Iran-backed Houthis in the Bab el Mandeb Strait on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the U.S. The military claimed it had struck a container vessel that was attempting to sail towards an 'Iranian port.

Yemen's Coast Guard reported that two Yemeni rescuers who were part of an anti-Houthi militia group also died in the Bab el-Mandeb attacks.

If confirmed, the deaths aboard the Egyptian-owned Tihamah would be the first Houthi attack on a ship since the Iran War began on 28 February.

The Houthis claimed to have attacked a Saudi military ship in Bab el-Mandeb later in the day. However, they did not identify the ship.

Saudi Center for International Communication didn't respond to an immediate request for comment. UK Maritime Trade Operations, a British agency affiliated with the British navy, reported an incident in Tuesday's strait. A ship was struck by an "unknown projectile".

The shape of the mast and deck of the cargo ship matched the archive images of the vessel. Satellite?imagery of the area and the topography map matched the corroborating visuals taken from the dock.

Data from ship-tracking showed that the vessel Tihamah was near Murad in Yemen on August 11, according to data. Two Yemeni coastguard sources and two government military officials confirmed the date. They said that a small cargo ship was attacked by Houthis. Ambrey, a British maritime security firm, also confirmed that the vessel was attacked on August 11, according to their report.

The Yemeni Ministry said that three Pakistanis and an Indonesian were dead, adding that the crew lost control after the vessel was attacked.

The Yemeni Coastguard said that two?rescuers' from the National Resistance Forces, an anti-Houthi group, were also killed after the Houthis attacked again, just as rescue crews had arrived.

According to the Coast Guard, ten people were injured including seven?crew? members, two Coast Guard staff and one NRF - member.

On July 20, the Houthis announced a maritime embargo in the Red Sea against Saudi Arabia as a response to what they called a Saudi siege. Riyadh has denied that Yemen is being sieged.

Ambrey, a British maritime security company, said that the incident happened while the ship was anchored northeast of Perim Island in Yemen.

PAKISTAN ATTACKED

U.S. Central Command also said that it fired two Hellfire missiles to disable the steering gear of a container ship flying the Panamanian flag, Vela Nova, as it sailed in the Gulf of Oman towards an Iranian port.

Central Command said that the vessel had ignored repeated warnings not to violate a naval ban on Iranian ports.

The 12th vessel to be attacked by U.S. Forces since their blockade?was announced back in April, and the third since it was reimposed July 14,

Charlie Brown, senior adviser at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), which monitors Iran related tanker traffic by using satellite and ship tracking, confirmed that the ship made recent port calls in Mumbai, India, and Port Klang, Malaysia.

The reported U.S. stopping and disabling the Panama-flagged Vela Nova, near the blockade lines in the Gulf of Oman after its recent Mumbai call, "alongside" these vessels, highlights the increased scrutiny that is now being applied to Iran related shipping, he said.

Vanguard, a UK-based maritime risk management company, said the ship was believed hit 71 nautical mile (131 km), off Pakistan's coastline.

SHIPPING TRANSPORTATION

Since the Houthi's first wave of attacks against shipping in 2023-2025, the volume of shipping through Bab el-Mandeb strait has dropped by over?50%.

According to Kpler, the number of ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz last week was down from 50 on average before the Houthis' blockade.

Ambrey pointed out that the cargo ship - which sources claimed was the Tihamah - was neither owned nor operated by Saudi Arabia and had left the Yemeni port of al-Mokha, controlled by the government, on Saturday.

The LSEG data lists Egyptian companies as the owners and managers of this ship. Both did not respond to emails and phone calls asking for immediate comment.

The Strait of Hormuz is experiencing even greater disruptions, with only six ships passing through the Strait on Monday. This compares to a 10-day traffic average of around 11 and to pre-war levels of 130 to 140. Mohammed Ghobari reported from Aden; Jonathan Saul was in London; Nerijus Adomaitis was in Oslo; Maha El Dahan, Tala Ramadan, and Monica Naime were in Dubai; Nayera Abdallah, Nafisa, and Nafisa, Eltahir, and Edward Carron contributed additional reporting; Michael Georgy, David Goodman Jason Neely, and Jamie Freed edited the story.

(source: Reuters)