Key facts
- Three crew members were killed in two separate maritime incidents.
- A cargo vessel, the Tihamah, was attacked in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, with two Pakistanis and one Indonesian killed.
- A container ship, the Vela Nova, was hit by a missile off the coast of Pakistan.
- Sources suspect Iran-backed Houthis of attacking the Tihamah and U.S. forces of attacking the Vela Nova.
- Shipping traffic in the Bab el-Mandeb strait and Red Sea has decreased by over 50%.
Three crew members were killed in separate incidents involving ships in the Bab el-Mandeb strait and off the coast of Pakistan. Sources suspect Iran-backed Houthis of attacking a small cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Tuesday, resulting in the deaths of two Pakistanis and one Indonesian national. The vessel, identified as the Egyptian-owned Tihamah, lost control after being struck by an unknown projectile.
Separately, the Panama-flagged container ship Vela Nova was hit by a missile off Pakistan while sailing into the Gulf of Oman. The Wall Street Journal reported that a U.S. helicopter fired a Hellfire missile at the ship's rudder after it attempted to evade a U.S. blockade of Iran-linked shipping. If confirmed, this would be the 12th vessel attacked by U.S. forces since its blockade was announced in April and the third since the blockade was reimposed on July 14.
Shipping traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb strait and Red Sea has fallen by more than 50% since a previous wave of Houthi attacks in 2023-25, and has decreased further since the Houthis announced their blockade last month. An average of 32 ships per day passed through the strait last week, down from an average of 50 before the blockade. Traffic is even more disrupted in the Strait of Hormuz, with only six ships passing through on Monday, down from a 10-day average of about 11 and prewar levels of 130 to 140.