Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The first suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthis on a commercial vessel this year forced the crew of a Greek-owned cargo ship to abandon their vessel in the Red Sea on Sunday.
The attack was followed almost immediately by Israeli strikes on a number of Houthi-held ports in Yemen.
If the attack on the Magic Seas, a dry bulk carrier owned by Greece’s Stem Shipping, is confirmed as the work of the Houthis, it would be the first on a commercial vessel since December by the group, which is backed by Iran.
Michael Bodouroglou, Stem Shipping’s chief executive, told the Financial Times the crew had been left “terrified” by multiple waves of attacks, which started with an assault by men in skiffs and left the ship taking on water.
“They didn’t know whether they were pirates or Houthis but then it became obvious they were Houthis because there were more and more, and there were missiles,” Bodouroglou said.
Martin Kelly, head of advisory for marine security company EOS Risk Group, said the attack marked a “huge shift in intent” by the Iran-backed group, both because it was the first in so long and because of the scale of the attack.
Pointing to the apparent use of skiffs, uncrewed surface ships and missiles fired from drones, Kelly said: “They meant to sink this ship.”
Hours after the attack, Israel’s defence minister wrote on X that Israel had “forcefully” struck Houthi-linked targets, including the ports of Hodeidah, Al-Salif and Ras Isa and a power station.
He added that they had also hit the car-carrying Galaxy Leader ship, which had been attacked and seized in the first Houthi attack on merchant shipping in November 2023. He said the vessel had been used for “terror activities” in the Red Sea.
The Houthis’ main X account wrote that: “Yemeni air defences effectively repelled the Israeli aggression, forcing a significant portion of its formations to retreat, thanks to a large salvo of locally manufactured surface-to-air missiles, which caused considerable confusion among the enemy’s pilots and operations rooms.”
The Magic Seas had been carrying a mixture of steel products and fertiliser from China to Turkey, Bodouroglou said. He insisted the current voyage had no links to Israel — the reason usually cited by the Houthis for attacking ships — but acknowledged his vessels sometimes called at Israeli ports.
Bodouroglou said missiles had started fires in the forecastle near the ship’s bow and in its second hold. The vessel’s fuel tanks were damaged and the engine room hit, leaving it taking on water.
The crew was in the course of abandoning ship, he said, adding that the vessel might sink. “The good thing is no crew member has been hurt,” Bodouroglou said.
The UK’s Maritime Trade Operations office later confirmed the crew had left the ship and had been picked up by “a passing merchant vessel”. The ship was 51 nautical miles south-west of Hodeidah, the Houthis’ main port, at the time of the attack, the office said.
The Houthis did not immediately claim responsibility. However, no other group has mounted similar attacks in the Red Sea in recent years.
The Houthis have said they are attacking ships in support of Gaza’s Palestinians. The attack on the Galaxy Leader in November 2023 took place shortly after Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
The group stopped attacking commercial vessels in the run-up to the start of a ceasefire in Gaza in January and had not resumed them since then, despite the collapse of that truce in March.
The group has instead focused on firing missiles repeatedly at targets in Israel, such as the country’s main airport.
In May US President Donald Trump said the US would stop its bombing campaign against the Houthis in response to assurances from the Iranian-backed group that it would halt its attacks on ships.
The Houthis’ previous attacks on commercial ships between November 2023 and December last year sank two vessels, set fire to another three and killed at least four mariners. The attacks prompted many shipowners to redirect vessels away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal and to sail round the Cape of Good Hope.
