Crew Abandons Ship After Attacks in Red Sea

Crew members aboard a Liberian-flagged ship set ablaze by a series of attacks in the Red Sea abandoned the vessel Sunday night as it took on water, marking the first serious assault in the vital corridor for trade after a monthslong campaign by Yemen's Houthi rebels there. Suspicion for the attack on the Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas immediately fell on the Houthis, particularly as a security firm said it appeared bomb-carrying drone boats hit the ship after it was targeted by small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The rebels' media reported on the attack but did not claim it, the AP reports. It can be hours or even days before they acknowledge an assault.

• The backdrop: A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in US and Western forces to the area, particularly after President Trump targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign. And it comes at an especially sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes. "It likely serves as a message that the Houthis continue to possess the capability and willingness to strike at strategic maritime targets regardless of diplomatic developments," wrote Mohammad al-Basha, a Yemen analyst at the Basha Report risk advisory firm, per the AP.

• The attack: The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center first said that an armed security team on an unidentified vessel had returned fire against an initial attack. It described the attack as happening some 60 miles southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the country's Houthi rebels. It later said that the ship was on fire after being struck by projectiles and that the crew had abandoned the vessel. Ambrey, a private maritime security firm, issued an alert saying that a merchant ship had been "attacked by eight skiffs while transiting northbound in the Red Sea." Ambrey later said the ship also had been attacked by bomb-carrying drone boats, which could mark a major escalation. It said two drone boats struck the ship, while another two had been destroyed by armed guards on board.
• Blame: Moammar al-Eryani, information minister for Yemen's exiled government opposing the Houthis, identified the vessel attacked as the Magic Seas. The ship had been broadcasting it had an armed security team on board in the vicinity the attack took place. "The attack also proves once again that the Houthis are merely a front for an Iranian scheme using Yemen as a platform to undermine regional and global stability, at a time when Tehran continues to arm the militia and provide it with military technology, including missiles, aircraft, drones, and sea mines," al-Eryani posted on X.