Yemen’s Houthis said they had struck two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea in the first such attack since the Iran-backed militant group declared a naval blockade of the kingdom.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said on Wednesday that the group had targeted the Saudi-flagged vessels Encelia and Layla with missiles and drones. He added that around ten ships had changed course since the blockade was formally imposed on Monday.
According to the UK Maritime Trade Operations coordination center, a vessel reported catching fire after being struck by an unidentified projectile around 130km from Al Shuqaiq, Saudi Arabia. There were no reports of casualties.
A video posted on social media appears to show a large fire aboard a ship.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) later cited a source at the kingdom’s Transport General Authority as confirming that the Encelia caught fire after being struck. The source said that all crew members were safe.
In a statement on Wednesday, Saree said the group would continue to enforce what he described as a policy of “a siege for a siege,” which Riyadh has denounced as illegal under international law.
The Houthis imposed the blockade a week after forces loyal to Yemen’s Saudi-backed government bombed Sana’a International Airport in an attempt to prevent an Iranian plane carrying a Houthi delegation from Tehran from landing. The group has regularly launched missiles and drones at Israel since the start of the Gaza war, before reaching a ceasefire with the US in May 2025.
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