<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Crew members aboard a Liberian-flagged ship set ablaze by a series of attacks in the Red Sea abandoned the vessel overnight as it took on water, marking the first serious assault in the vital corridor for trade after a months-long campaign by Yemen's Houthi rebels there.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/texas-floods-search-for-missing-girls-plows-forward-after-flash-flood-kills-at-least-people-in-texas/9da0f633-51b1-46f9-8b04-2e0c8ba86c6f" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Texas flood death toll hits 70 as 21 children found dead</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in US and Western forces to the area, particularly after US President Donald Trump targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Attack comes at a delicate time</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And it 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.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/red-sea-ship-attack-crew-of-liberia-flag-greek-owned-ship-abandon-it-after-attack-uk-military-says/4156be03-d459-4352-a2b7-94c9a01034c8" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/irans-supreme-leader-makes-first-public-appearance-since-iranisrael-war-started/8074838c-4c3e-414c-8c01-9565d424bbb5" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Iran's supreme leader makes first appearance since Iran-Israel war started</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre 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 100km south-west of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the country's Houthi rebels.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Authorities are investigating," it said. It later said the ship was on fire after being "struck by unknown projectiles."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Possibly a major escalation</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said the ship was taking on water and its crew had abandoned the vessel.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The US Navy's Middle East-based Fifth Fleet referred questions to the military's Central Command, which said it was aware of the incident without elaborating.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/sex-trafficking-trial-sean-diddy-combs-fended-off-allegations-surrounding-fatal-charity-event/4ca9ccfa-3ae1-4ed2-8399-f58bde7826d9" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Long before his sex trafficking trial, 'Diddy' was embroiled in a different scandal</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2020/07/07/08/43/7-july-london-bombings-what-happened-that-day-timeline"><img alt="Suicide bombers killed 52 people and injured over 700 others on three Underground trains and a bus during the morning rush hour of 7th July 2005." sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/lvU0dF-oDifMlRTQTlpU9SNsSLs=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F295366b0-4e63-41d7-80dd-f7fcffbcf49e" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/lvU0dF-oDifMlRTQTlpU9SNsSLs=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F295366b0-4e63-41d7-80dd-f7fcffbcf49e 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/5-Mso2tE-vSzxci6IRgyQYh_Huw=/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F295366b0-4e63-41d7-80dd-f7fcffbcf49e 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">The day four suicide bombers brought terror to London</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2020/07/07/08/43/7-july-london-bombings-what-happened-that-day-timeline">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Magic Seas' owners did not respond to a request for comment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Houthi attacks came over Israel-Hamas war</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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 US$1 trillion ($1.53 trillion) of goods move through it annually.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Houthis paused attacks in a self-imposed ceasefire until the US 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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meanwhile, a wider, decade-long 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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>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.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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