Yemen's Houthi militants ramp up attacks in the Red Sea

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi militants have struck multiple cargo ships in the Red Sea, causing one vessel to capsize and sink.

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The Houthis have struck a Saudi Arabian-flagged oil tanker, NCC WAFA, off the coast of Yanbu in the northern part of the Red Sea, the group’s spokesperson Yahya Sare’e said on social media platform X.

The fresh attacks come after the militant group announced an embargo on Saudi Arabian exports via the Bab al-Mandeb Strait into the Red Sea on 22 July.

The NCC WAFA was last seen transmitting on 19 July, southbound in the Red Sea toward the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, according to maritime intelligence firm Windward.

Following the blockade announcement, the vessel likely took a U-turn and headed back north through Saudi coastal waters “where the missiles found her anyway, hundreds of kilometers from the declared blockade zone,” Windward reported.

The Houthis have tied the strike to Saudi Arabia-linked vessels rerouting north to avoid Bab al-Mandeb, and vowed escalation in the northern Red Sea.

Another Saudi oil tanker, Daisy, also came under attack in the Gulf of Aden yesterday, Sare’e said. The vessel was hit with a ballistic missile and forced to turn back after sustaining damages, he added.

Since the Houthis announced the blockade, the militant group has targeted eight and intercepted 29 Saudi Arabian tankers, stopping them from moving southward to the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, Sare’e claimed.

A third ship, an India-flagged oil tanker, carrying Saudi-origin crude oil, has sunk off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea yesterday, after being hit by a projectile.

The MSV Faize Noore Oliya “has been hit by a projectile near Yemeni waters, causing the vessel to capsize and sink," India’s minister of ports, shipping & waterways Sarbananda Sonowal said on X.

The vessel was struck by an explosives-laden boat, roughly 13 nautical miles south of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, Windward data showed.

Following Houthi warnings targeting Saudi-affiliated cargo, the waters connecting the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea via the Bab al-Mandeb strait have transformed into a fresh zone for maritime assaults.

“The continuing incidents of attacks on commercial shipping in the region are deeply worrisome,” India’s Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

According to Windward, Houthi hostility persists, despite ongoing diplomatic channels between Washington and Tehran, prompting an increasing number of Saudi-chartered crude carriers to navigate the Bab al-Mandeb strait with their tracking transponders disabled.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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