DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) 鈥 A ship came under attack Sunday in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen by armed men firing guns and launching rocket-propelled grenades, a group overseen by the British military said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which comes as tensions remain high in the Middle East over the war and after the Iran-Israel and airstrikes by .
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said that an armed security team on the unidentified vessel had returned fire and that the 鈥渟ituation is ongoing.鈥 It described the attack as happening some 100 kilometers (60 miles) southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the country's Houthi rebels.
鈥淎uthorities are investigating,鈥 it said.
Ambrey, a private maritime security firm, issued an alert saying that a merchant ship had been 鈥渁ttacked by eight skiffs while transiting northbound in the Red Sea.鈥 It said it believed the attack was ongoing.
Ambrey later said the ship also had been attacked by bomb-carrying drone boats, which could mark a major escalation in the region. It said two drone boats struck the ship, while another two had been destroyed by the armed guards on board.
The U.S. Navy's referred questions to the military's Central Command, which said it was aware of the incident without elaborating.
The Houthi rebels have been launching against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group鈥檚 leadership has described as an Israel鈥檚 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, . However, Ambrey said the vessel targeted met 鈥渢he 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 . 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 . On Sunday, the group claimed launching a missile at Israel which the Israeli military said it intercepted.
Meanwhile, a wider, decadelong war in Yemen between the Houthis and the country鈥檚 exiled government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, remains in a statemate. The Yemeni Coast Guard, which is loyal to the exiled government, 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.
