Maritime security sources told Reuters a small cargo ship was ​believed to have been targeted in the Red ​Sea, but the fate of the crew was unclear.

If ⁠confirmed, the fatalities on the Tanzania-flagged Tihamah would be ​the first deaths in a Houthi strike on a ship ​since Middle East conflict was triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran at the end of February.

The Houthis declared a naval blockade against Saudi ​Arabia in the Red Sea last month in response to ​what they described as a Saudi siege. Riyadh denies that it had ‌besieged ⁠Yemen.

The Houthis have not yet claimed the attack, which Yemeni sources said killed two Pakistanis and one Indonesian person on the boat sailing from Salalah in Oman via Djibouti.

Attacks ​on ships in ​the Bab ⁠el-Mandeb Strait have increased uncertainty for shipping companies already hobbled by the closure of the ​Strait of Hormuz.

An average of 32 ships per ​day ⁠passed through the Bab el-Mandeb strait last week, Kpler data showed. Before the blockade, an average of 50 ships per ⁠day ​transited the strait.