Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced on Monday that a cargo vessel they targeted with gunfire, rockets, and explosive remote-controlled boats has sunk in the Red Sea, marking their first known high-seas assault of the year.
The ship’s Greek operator, Stem Shipping, informed Reuters that they could not independently confirm the sinking. Reuters also could not verify the claim at that moment.
The Houthis accepted responsibility for the attack that occurred on Sunday and reported that the 19 crew members aboard the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier, Magic Seas, were allowed to leave the vessel before it sank.
According to Stem Shipping, all crew members were rescued by another merchant ship and were projected to reach Djibouti later that day.
The United Arab Emirates reported on Monday that it had successfully saved all 22 individuals onboard the Magic Seas after an AD Ports Group vessel, Safeen Prism, responded to the ship’s distress signal following the assault in the Red Sea.
After the attack, the Magic Seas was taking on water and was in jeopardy of sinking, as noted by the company’s representative, Michael Bodouroglou. The ship was transporting iron and fertilizer from China to Turkey.
This incident ended a six-month period of relative calm in the Red Sea, a crucial shipping lane where previous Houthi attacks from late 2023 to the end of 2024 had disrupted maritime traffic between Europe and Asia through the Suez Canal.
The Houthis had conducted over 100 attacks targeting vessels in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which connects them, expressing these actions as a show of solidarity with Palestinians in light of the conflict in Gaza in 2023. However, these assaults had ceased this year, with the last recorded incident occurring in December.