On Tuesday, an attack by Iran-backed Houthis on the cargo ship Tihamah resulted in the deaths of four crew members in the Bab el-Mandeb strait. Yemen’s transport ministry reported this incident. Concurrently, the U.S. military conducted a strike on a separate container ship heading towards an Iranian port.
If confirmed, the fatalities on the Egyptian-owned Tihamah would be the first since the onset of the Iran war on February 28. The Houthis later acknowledged attacking a ship in the strait, claiming it carried Saudi military equipment, but did not specify the vessel’s name.
Satellite imagery from the region was captured via Gallo Images and Copernicus Sentinel Data 2026.
The Saudi Center for International Communication has not yet responded to inquiries. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), associated with the British navy, reported an incident where a ship was hit by an unknown projectile. Reuters confirmed the Tihamah’s identity using deck and mast imagery, comparing it with archive visuals of the ship. Satellite imagery corroborated this identification.
Ship-tracking data positioned Tihamah near Murad, Yemen, on August 11, a date verified by both Yemeni coast guard sources and military officials. They reported a Houthi attack on a small cargo boat. British maritime security firm Ambrey also confirmed the vessel’s attack on that day.
Pakistan’s foreign minister confirmed the deaths of three Pakistani crew members, while one Indonesian crew member also died. The attack caused the crew to lose control of the vessel. Two rescuers from the National Resistance Forces (NRF), an anti-Houthi group, perished in a subsequent Houthi attack post-rescue attempt.
According to the Coast Guard, ten individuals sustained injuries, comprising seven crew members, two Coast Guard personnel, and one NRF member. Imagery captured protests against the Saudi blockade on Yemen in the capital, Sana’a, recently.
On July 20, the Houthis announced a maritime embargo against Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea, countering alleged Saudi sieges, which Riyadh denies. The recent attack happened while Tihamah was anchored northeast of Perim Island, as per Ambrey.
Attack off Pakistan
In a separate incident, U.S. Central Command disabled the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova by firing two Hellfire missiles, targeting its steering gear while it navigated the Gulf of Oman toward an Iranian port. Central Command stated the vessel ignored multiple warnings against violating a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
The incident marks the 12th vessel targeted by U.S. forces since April’s blockade announcement and the third since its re-implementation on July 14. Vela Nova had recently docked in Mumbai and Port Klang, Malaysia, which are also frequented by Iran-linked vessels, disclosed Charlie Brown from United Against Nuclear Iran. Brown noted the heightened scrutiny of Iran-related shipping activities.
The ship suffered damage approximately 71 nautical miles off the coast of Pakistan, according to U.K. maritime risk management group Vanguard.
Shipping Traffic
Shipping in the Bab el-Mandeb strait and the Red Sea has declined by over 50% following previous Houthi attacks from 2023 to 2025. A recent drop in traffic is evident since the Houthis’ blockade, with only 32 ships traversing the strait daily, compared to 50 prior, according to Kpler data. The cargo ship, Tihamah, was not operated or owned by Saudi interests and had departed from al-Mokha, a Yemeni government-held port, last Saturday.
LSEG data identifies Egyptian enterprises as the ship’s owners and managers, though they have not responded to communication attempts. More extreme disruption is observed in the Strait of Hormuz, with only six ships passing on Monday, compared to an average of 11 over ten days and prewar levels of 130 to 140.
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