Ship attacked in Red Sea off Yemen with gunfire, rocket-propelled grenades, UK maritime agency says

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.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes as tensions remain high in the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war and after the Iran-Israel war and airstrikes by the United States targeting Iranian nuclear sites.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said that an armed security team on the ship had returned fire and that the "situation is ongoing." It described the attack as happening some 100 kilometres (60 miles) southwest of Hodeida, Yemen, which is held by the country's Houthi rebels.

"Authorities are investigating," it said.

Ambrey, a maritime security firm, issued a warning saying that a merchant ship had been "attacked by eight skiffs while transiting northbound in the Red Sea." It said it believed the attack was ongoing.

The U.S. Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet referred questions to the military's Central Command, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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. 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.

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 $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.

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. 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's exiled government, backed by a Saudi-led coalition, remains in a statemate. 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.

Pirates from Somalia also have operated in the region, though typically they've sought to capture vessels either to rob or ransom their crews.