Ship attacked in Red Sea off Yemen with gunfire, rocket-propelled grenades

In this case, UKMTO said that the security forces deployed on the ship have retaliated and ‘the situation is still not under control.’ The agency said that the investigation is going on by the authorities.

Dubai: A ship was attacked in the Red Sea near the coast of Yemen on Sunday. UK monitoring agency United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said that some armed men opened fire on the ship and attacked with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs).

The situation is still not under control - British agency

It is not yet clear who is behind this attack, but this incident has happened at a time when the whole Middle East is already tense - like Israel-Hamas war, Iran-Israel conflict and US air strikes on Iran's nuclear bases. In this case, UKMTO said that the security forces deployed on the ship have retaliated and 'the situation is still not under control.' The agency said that the investigation is going on by the authorities.

Fears of attack on Houthi rebels

Yemen's Houthi rebels have been targeting commercial and military ships in the region for the past several months. They claim that they are doing this in protest against Israel's attack on Gaza. According to an information, from November 2023 to January 2025, the Houthis attacked more than 100 ships with missiles and drones. Two of these ships sank and four sailors died. Due to this, the Red Sea trade route was affected, where about 1 trillion US dollars of trade takes place every year.

Houthis' situation, civil war in Yemen

Let us tell you that in March 2025, the US carried out a major airstrike on Houthi bases, after which the Houthis broke their own declared ceasefire. Although they have not directly targeted any ship since then, missiles have been fired towards Israel. On the other hand, the civil war that has been going on in Yemen for the last 10 years - between Houthi rebels and the exiled Yemeni government - is still continuing with the support of the Saudi-led coalition. But the war is stuck in a kind of ground deadlock.

The threat of piracy

Along with this, pirates from Somalia are also active in this area. However, their aim is usually to loot the ship or to take the crew hostage and extract ransom.