Yemeni authorities said Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, killing people aboard the ship and pushing the Red Sea shipping crisis into a deadlier phase.
The Associated Press, carried by Newsday, reported that Yemen’s internationally recognized government said the Houthis fired three ballistic missiles at a Yemeni commercial vessel in Bab el-Mandeb and that four people were killed. Reuters, carried by WHBL, cited Yemeni coast guard and military sources saying three crew members were killed in an attack on the Tanzania-flagged Tihamah.
The casualty counts differed in the first reports, but both accounts point to the same strategic shift: the Iran crisis is no longer only about ships being delayed, diverted, or damaged. It is now producing reported fatalities on a commercial vessel in one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.
The Attack Hit A Critical Oil Route
Reuters reported that the Tihamah was sailing from Salalah in Oman via Djibouti when it was struck near Yemen’s coast. UK Maritime Trade Operations said it had been informed that a cargo vessel off al-Mokha had been hit by an unknown projectile and that casualties were reported. British maritime security firm Ambrey said the ship was damaged while at anchor northeast of Perim Island, near the southern entrance to the Red Sea.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait sits between Yemen and the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is a key route for commercial traffic moving between the Indian Ocean, the Suez Canal, and Europe. With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut by Iran, the Red Sea route has taken on even greater importance for energy shipments and regional trade.
Reuters cited Kpler data showing that an average of 32 ships per day passed through Bab el-Mandeb last week, down from about 50 per day before the blockade pressure. That drop matters because shipping companies were already balancing war-risk premiums, rerouting costs, and crew safety concerns before Tuesday’s reported deaths.
The Houthis Had Not Claimed It Yet
Reuters said the Houthis had not claimed the cargo-ship attack at the time of its report. The group did, however, declare a naval blockade against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea last month, saying it was responding to what it called a Saudi siege. Riyadh denies besieging Yemen.
Ambrey said the vessel was not Saudi-owned or Saudi-operated at the time of the attack, according to Reuters. That detail makes the strike especially worrying for shipping operators because it suggests the danger may not be limited to clearly Saudi-linked targets.
The Associated Press also reported fresh Houthi missile and drone attacks on Mokha and Marib. Yemen’s military said the rebels targeted the government-held Red Sea port city and the central province, while earlier weekend strikes on Mokha killed at least seven people, including three troops. Mokha is a main port controlled by Yemen’s internationally recognized government and has been renovated to handle shipping away from Houthi-held Hodeida.
The New Angle Is Crew Deaths At Sea
List25 has already covered Houthi attacks on Saudi energy infrastructure and Yemen’s Mocha port. Tuesday’s development is different because it centers on reported deaths aboard a cargo vessel in Bab el-Mandeb itself.
If the Reuters account is confirmed, the deaths would be the first fatalities from a Houthi strike on a ship since the current Middle East conflict began after U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February. AP similarly framed the deaths as the first known fatalities from Houthi attacks on shipping off Yemen in the latest bout of fighting.
That raises the stakes for insurers, crews, naval escorts, and governments trying to keep alternative routes open while Hormuz remains caught in U.S.-Iran negotiations. The immediate questions are whether the Houthis formally claim the strike, whether the casualty count is clarified, and whether more shipowners decide Bab el-Mandeb is no longer worth the risk.