Crew abandons Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned ship attacked in the Red
Sea, UK military says
[July 07, 2025]
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — 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. It can take them hours or even days
before they acknowledge an assault.
A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in U.S. and
Western forces to the area, particularly after President Donald Trump
targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.
Shortly before midnight in Yemen, Israel’s military issued a warning for
three Houthi-held ports and said airstrikes would begin shortly in
Hodeidah, Ras Isa and Salif along with at the Ras al-Khatib power
station.
Attack comes at a delicate time
The ship attack comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a
possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and as
Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program
following American airstrikes targeting its most-sensitive atomic sites
amid an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.
“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.
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center
first said that an armed security team on the unidentified vessel had
returned fire against an initial attack and that the “situation is
ongoing.” It described the attack as happening some 100 kilometers (60
miles) southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the country's
Houthi rebels.
“Authorities are investigating,” it said. It later said the ship was on
fire after being “struck by unknown projectiles."
Possibly a major escalation
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 the armed
guards on board.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the ship was
taking on water and its crew had abandoned the vessel.
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The U.S. Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet referred questions to the
military's Central Command, which said it was aware of the incident
without elaborating.
Moammar al-Eryani, the information minister for Yemen’s exiled
government opposing the Houthis, identified the vessel attacked as
the Magic Seas and blamed the rebels for the attack. The ship had
been broadcasting it had an armed security team on board in the
vicinity the attack took place and had been heading north.
“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 wrote on the
social platform X.
The Magic Seas' owners did not respond to a request for comment.
Houthi attacks came over Israel-Hamas war
The Houthi rebels have been launching missile and drone attacks
against commercial and military ships in the region in what the
group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s
offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The group's al-Masirah satellite news channel acknowledged the
attack occurred, but offered no other comment on it as it aired a
speech by its secretive leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi. However,
Ambrey said the vessel targeted met “the established Houthi target
profile," without elaborating.
Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more
than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of
them and killing four sailors. That has greatly reduced the flow of
trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion
of goods move through it annually.
The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the
U.S. launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. That
ended weeks later and the Houthis haven't attacked a vessel, though
they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel. On
Sunday, the group claimed launching a missile at Israel which the
Israeli military said it intercepted. Shipping through the Red Sea,
while still lower than normal, has increased in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, a wider, decadelong war in Yemen between the Houthis and
the country’s exiled government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition,
remains in a stalemate. The Yemeni Coast Guard, which is loyal to
the exiled government, has engaged in a firefight with at least one
vessel in the Red Sea in the past as well.
Pirates from Somalia also have operated in the region, though
typically they've sought to capture vessels either to rob or ransom
their crews. But neither the Yemeni Coast Guard nor the pirates have
been known to use drone boats in their attacks.
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