Transport Ministry denies Egypt link to vessel targeted in Bab Al-Mandeb

The Transport Ministry said Thursday that Tihamah, the vessel the Ansar Allah (Houthi) movement said it targeted in Bab Al-Mandeb on Tuesday, is not registered with Egyptian shipping chambers and has not been licensed by Egypt’s Maritime Transport and Logistics Sector to conduct maritime agency operations.

The ministry said the Tanzanian-flagged vessel is owned by a Yemeni national and that the operating company is managed through its branch in the UAE. It added that the ship has never entered an Egyptian port, was not headed to Egypt, and was not carrying any goods belonging to Egyptians.

On Tuesday evening, Ansar Allah announced that it had targeted what it described as a “Saudi military equipment transport ship” in Bab Al-Mandeb, killing four crew members, three Pakistanis and one Indonesian, and injuring four others.

The attack also caused a fire and material damage aboard the vessel. Ansar Allah’s Yemeni Military Media account posted images on X identifying the targeted ship as Tihamah.

The Transport Ministry statement comes as MagicPort shows the vessel registered to Thubab for Marine Services, based in Egypt, while Blue Sea for Management Marine, also based in Egypt, is listed as its commercial manager and operator.

Maritime data cited from MarineTraffic also identifies Tihamah by IMO number 1031329 and says it flies the Tanzanian flag. The vessel’s last recorded signal was at 4:39 am Tuesday off the Yemeni coast near Hisn Murad and Perim Island. The data lists Egypt-based Blue Sea for Management Marine as the vessel’s commercial manager and operator.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the vessel was connected to “trade and food supplies for the Yemeni people,” a point also confirmed by Yemen’s Transport Ministry.

The Ansar Allah movement had announced on July 20 that they were imposing a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea in response to what they described as a Saudi blockade. Riyadh denies imposing any blockade on Yemen, according to Reuters.