Red Sea ship set ablaze, abandoned after attack near Yemen

Sara Gharaibeh, Bloomberg News on Jul 6, 2025

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Multiple small vessels attacked a ship in the Red Sea near Yemen’s Al Hudaydah port, causing a fire on board and prompting the crew to abandon ship, UK Maritime Trade Operations said Sunday.

The vessels opened fire and launched self-propelled grenades at the ship, UKMTO said in a series of social posts citing a company security officer. It didn’t identify the vessel.

UKMTO said earlier that an armed security team was returning fire in the attack some 51 nautical miles southwest of Al Hudaydah, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Houthi militia that has been targeting ships in the strategic waterway for over a year.

The Houthis began attacking commercial vessels in the Red Sea after Israel launched a campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, disrupting global shipping routes. Those attacks have largely dried up since late 2024 as shippers routed vessels along other routes.

After an intense bombing campaign by the U.S. and Israel earlier this year, the Yemen-based militia reached a ceasefire agreement with Washington. But the group threatened to return to targeting U.S.-associated vessels in the Red Sea following the U.S. decision last month to join an offensive by Israel on Iran’s nuclear sites.

The Houthi assaults on ships in the Red Sea caused the biggest disruption to global trade since the COVID-19 pandemic, subduing activity in one of the world’s busiest maritime corridors.

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(With assistance from Sherif Tarek.)

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