A bulk carrier reported coming under attack 30 nautical miles southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, on Sunday after an armed skiff approached and opened fire on the vessel, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) center said.
UKMTO WARNING 079-26 – ATTACK
Click here to view UKMTO Products⤵️ https://t.co/QNNBB5HTfv#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/TLCwdtYhIp
— UKMTO Operations Centre (@UK_MTO) July 5, 2026
The UKMTO said the vessel triggered a distress alert stating it was “under attack by unknown armed assailants.” Security guards returned fire, and the skiff withdrew to a larger ship approximately two nautical miles away with its automatic identification system (AIS) switched off. The vessel and crew were reported safe.
No group immediately took responsibility for the attack. The incident occurred on the same day Houthi rebels killed 16 Yemeni government-aligned troops in Hodeidah governorate, marking the fiercest ground clashes in years, Yemeni government officials and medical sources said. The AIS-dark support vessel’s presence is consistent with a coordinated operation rather than an isolated approach.
The July 5 attack follows a July 1 incident in which four armed men carrying rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) boarded a merchant vessel 76 nautical miles south of Balhaf, damaging the ship’s bridge before departing. The UKMTO reclassified that event as an illegal boarding.
The attacks took place along a waterway carrying significantly higher oil volumes since the U.S.-Iran war began in February. Saudi Arabia rerouted crude exports through its East-West Pipeline to the Red Sea, sending those barrels through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Asian markets.
Saudi Arabia shipped approximately 34 million barrels through the reopened Strait of Hormuz in the two weeks after a U.S.-Iran memorandum of understanding was signed on June 17. Brent crude prices have fallen 39% from their March highs.
Houthi forces attacked commercial shipping in the Red Sea from 2023 through 2025 in response to Israel’s war in Gaza, forcing companies to reroute vessels around the southern tip of Africa. The group has threatened to resume maritime attacks.
