Six people died when Iran-backed Houthi rebels launched a coordinated attack on the cargo vessel Tihamah in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a critical waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. The fatalities included four crew members and two rescuers, according to Yemen's Transportation Ministry and Pakistan's Foreign Ministry. Among the dead were three Pakistani nationals and one Indonesian citizen.
The Egyptian-owned ship had been anchored northeast of Perim Island after departing from the port of Al-Mokha when the initial strike occurred. In what appears to be a deliberate tactic, the Houthis—a Yemeni militant group supported by Iran—launched a second attack after rescue teams from the National Resistance Forces arrived at the scene, killing two of the responders. The Coast Guard reported ten additional injuries from the incident.
In a separate development in the Gulf of Oman, U.S. forces struck the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova with two Harpoon missiles. U.S. Central Command stated the vessel's steering system was damaged after it repeatedly ignored warnings to stop violating a naval blockade on Iranian ports.
"The reported stopping and disabling of the Panama-flagged Vela Nova by the United States near the blockade line in the Gulf of Oman, following its recent docking in Mumbai port alongside these vessels, underscores the heightened oversight now being applied to Iran-related shipping," said Charlie Brown, a senior advisor at United Against Nuclear Iran.
The series of incidents reflects ongoing escalation in the region's major shipping lanes. Maritime traffic data indicates a decline of more than 50% in vessel transit through the Bab al-Mandab Strait and Red Sea, alongside a sharp reduction in ship movements through the Strait of Hormuz.
