Ship's crew bailing into Red Sea after attack from men 'firing guns and grenades'

A stock image of a large oil tanker in the Gulf of Aqaba,Jordan. (Credits: Getty Images)

The crew of a ship attacked by men launching rocket-propelled grenades have been rescued from the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen.

The vessel,identified as the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Magic Seas,caught fire after being hit by sea drones and men firing guns from small boats,according to Maritime security sources.

The crew abandoned the sinking merchant ship and were rescued by another passing vessel.

All crew have now been accounted for.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in a statement: ‘Vessels in the area should exercise extreme caution whilst transiting the southern Red Sea,as vessel

remains abandoned and unlit’.

Map of Magic Seas merchant ship showing the location it was attacked (Pictures: UKMTO)

No-one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack,which comes as tensions remain high in the Middle East over the Israel-Hamas war.

However,the scale of the attack led to the suspicion that Yemen’s Houthi rebels carried it out. The rebels acknowledged the attack happened but have not claimed carrying out the assault.

‘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.

The UKMTOsaid that an armed security team on the ship had returned fire.

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 ship was attacked 51 nautical miles south west of Al Hudaydah.

Ambrey said in a separate advisory that the ship was later attacked by four Unmanned Surface Vehicles.

‘Two of the USVs impacted the port side of the vessel,damaging the vessel’s cargo,’Ambrey added. The UKMTO said the attack resulted in a fire onboard and that the incident was ongoing.

The UKMTO advised vessels in the area to proceed with caution and report any suspicious activity.

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 had 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. This has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor,which typically sees one trillion US dollars 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. This ended weeks later and the Houthis have not attacked a vessel,although they have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.

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.

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