Crew members of a Yemeni commercial vessel have recounted the harrowing experience of surviving a deadly attack by Houthi rebels, including a second missile strike that occurred during the initial rescue operations. The attack, which struck the ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, resulted in the deaths of six individuals and injuries to at least nine others.
The vessel was nearing port when it was hit by three ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthis. This marks the rebels' first deadly attack this year on a ship in the strategic strait, a critical waterway connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and handling approximately 12% of global trade.
Survivors described scenes of intense fire and panic aboard the ship, which was attacked before dawn on Tuesday. Zaheer Ahmed, a Pakistani crew member recovering from leg injuries, described the aftermath as a "strange scene of doomsday." Another crew member, Muhammad Alteno from Indonesia, recounted witnessing the death of a friend and being unable to reach him due to the severity of the flames.
The casualties included two members of Yemen's government-allied National Resistance Forces and three crew members from Pakistan.
This incident is part of an escalating campaign by the Houthis, who have recently targeted government-held areas and intensified attacks on troops and oil facilities in Saudi Arabia. These actions raise concerns about the potential resurgence of Yemen's civil war, which had seen a U.N.-brokered truce in 2022, and could signal a new front in broader Middle Eastern conflicts.
The Houthis had previously declared a blockade on Saudi-linked ships in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, citing retaliation for a Saudi siege on Yemen and recent attacks on the Houthi-controlled capital, Sanaa. They stated that only vessels connected to Saudi Arabia or its Red Sea ports would be targeted. During a similar blockade announced during the war in Gaza, the Houthis attacked over 100 vessels before a U.S. and Israeli air campaign intervened in early 2025.