Maritime security firm Ambrey reported on Thursday that a merchant vessel has been attacked off the Yemeni coast amid the Houthi terror group's Red Sea blockade.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the incident, however, the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen have since November been engaged in attacks on international vessels in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, on the orders of Iran's Supreme Leader.
According to the report by Ambrey, the vessel was approached by four armed men who began shooting at the ship, though the vessel and crew sustained no damage or injury in the attack which was disrupted by a private security team aboard the ship who engaged in gun fire with the militants. The vessel managed to escape the scene.
Yemen's Houthis launched their campaign to attack international vessels to initiate a blockade of Israel which has launched a relentless retaliatory attack on Gaza since Iran-backed Hamas militia invaded Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 mostly civilians and taking more than 250 more hostage. However, not only Israeli vessels have come under fire, with international shipping falling victim to the attacks. In March, a Houthi missile attack killed three seafarers on a Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship in the Red Sea, the first fatalities since the start of the blockade.
On January 10, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling on the Houthis to stop attacks on shipping immediately. Since then, US and UK forces have targeted the positions of the Iran-backed group in Yemen in preemptive attacks. Washington has also launched a multinational naval coalition in the Red Sea to protect trade vessels, but the militia, proscribed by countries including the US, has remained undeterred.
On Wednesday night, the US and coalition forces intercepted a drone and an unmanned surface vessel launched by the Yemeni Houthis. “These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for US Navy and merchant vessels,” read a statement by the US Central Command (CENTCOM) on X.