Shipping attacks escalate as US strikes cargo ship, Houthi attack kills six

Updated On: 13 August, 2026 09:31 AM IST | Dubai | Agencies

Shipping tensions escalated on Tuesday as a suspected Houthi attack on a cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait killed four crew members and two Yemeni rescuers. Separately, the US military said a Navy helicopter fired two Hellfire missiles to disable a Panama-flagged cargo ship accused of violating a US blockade of Iranian ports

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An excavator works on the Gachin Bridge, which was damaged by a US strike, along the road between Bandar Abbas and Bandar Khamir, southern Iran. PIC/AFP

The US and Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis reported separate attacks on shipping on Tuesday as prospects for ending the Iran war appeared to dim, with Tehran saying the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed unless Washington accepts its conditions.

At the southern end of the Red Sea, four crew members were killed in a suspected Houthi attack on a small cargo vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Tuesday, Yemen’s Transport Ministry said. Two Yemeni rescuers from an anti-Houthi military group were also killed, Yemen’s Coast Guard said.