The Iran-backed Houthi militia yesterday staged its first attack on a merchant ship in the Red Sea since mid-April.
The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Magic Seas, operated by Greece-based Stem Shipping, reportedly was attacked multiple times over four hours by drones, missiles and skiff-born assailants armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades.
The 19-member crew abandoned ship and was rescued from lifeboats by a passing vessel.
The Magic Seas, which was carrying iron and fertilizers from China to Turkey, is in danger of sinking, according to Stem Shipping.
The company said the attacks occurred without warning and caused a fire in the forepeak and flooding in the engine room and at least two holds.
Stem Shipping said the Magic Seas had once made a port call in Israel but that it had nothing more to do with that country.
The Houthis have attacked over 100 commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden in solidarity with the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamic terrorist group Hamas, which in October 2023 ignited a war with Israel by launching a murderous assault from Gaza into Israeli territory.
Many of the ships that were attacked had no connection to Israel at all.
Two vessels were sunk and several others disabled and four merchant seamen were killed before the Houthis suspended attacks when a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect in this January.
That ceasefire collapsed in March, prompting the Houthis to threaten to renew attacks on commercial vessels.
The Trump administration then began an aerial bombing campaign against the Houthis that far exceeded the scope and intensity of airstrikes carried out against the group by the Biden administration.
The Houthis responded by regularly attacking US warships with drones, cruise missiles, anti-ship missiles, demonstrating tactical sophistication and staying power.
Operating with limited maneuvering room in the narrow confines of the Red Sea, the US Navy shot down most of the Houthi missiles and drones and lost no vessels. No US personnel were killed in combat.
But the US engaged in some of its fiercest sea battles in generations.
Washington committed two aircraft carriers and their support ships, several B-2 bombers, a squadron of F-35 fighters and multiple guided-missile destroyers to the fight.
Advanced US weapons systems suffered serious wear and tear and rotations of naval personnel were suspended.
The Houthis shot down more than a dozen US Reaper drones, each worth about $30 million, contributing to the billions of dollars expended by the US during the campaign.
At the outset, the Trump administration said the bombing campaign would end when the Houthis ceased threatening attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The US and the Houthis reached a truce in early May that made no reference to occasional Houthi missile attacks on Israel and retaliatory Israeli airstrikes against the Houthis.
Israel and Hamas are engaged in dialogue that could lead to a new truce between them in coming days or weeks, a development that probably would end Houthi attacks on commercial ships.
In the meantime, most leading international shipping companies will continue avoiding the Red Sea, through which 12 percent of global trade normally passes.
Yemen should be avoided entirely.
International shipping companies should continue to track Red Sea/Gulf of Aden security developments.
