London: Armed men attacked a ship in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen on Sunday by firing guns and launching rocket-propelled grenades, reported Associated Press.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a British military group, said an armed security team on the ship returned fire and that the “situation is ongoing.”
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
It’s a worrying development in the region amid high tension in the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war, Iran-Israel conflict and American airstrikes targeting Iranian nuclear sites in June.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships as part of their effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing four sailors.
The flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor was substantially reduced in the wake of the attacks and multiple wars.
The Houthis paused the attacks early this year, until the US launched an assault against the rebels in mid-March. That ended in April, and the Houthis haven’t attacked a vessel since then, but have occasionally kaunched missile attacks targeting Israel.
Somalian pirates also operate in the region, but they seek to capture vessels either to rob or ransom their crews.
