Ship Crew Abandons Vessel in Red Sea After 'Drone Boat' Attack

Crew members aboard a Liberian-flagged ship set ablaze by a series of attacks in the Red Sea abandoned the vessel overnight as it took on water, marking the first serious assault in the vital corridor for trade after a months-long campaign by Yemen's Houthi rebels there.

Suspicion for the attack on the Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas immediately fell on the Houthis, particularly as a security firm said it appeared bomb-carrying drone boats hit the ship after it was targeted by small arms and rocket-propelled grenades.

The rebels' media reported on the attack but did not claim it. It can take them hours or even days before they acknowledge an assault.

A renewed Houthi campaign against shipping could again draw in US and Western forces to the area, particularly after US President Donald Trump targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.

And it comes at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most-sensitive atomic sites amid an Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.

According to the source: 9News.