Did a boat full of smuggled arms for the Houthis ‘disappear’ off Yemen coast?

The Houthis have been searching for a missing ship that “disappeared” in the Red Sea, according to reports at the UAE-based Al-Ain media. “For the third day, the Houthis are mobilizing their groups, patrols and reconnaissance drones in the Red Sea in search of a missing boat carrying ‘valuable catch’ that was scheduled to arrive in [Yemen’s] Hodeidah,” the report said.

Iran has been smuggling weapons and expertise needed to develop long-range precision missiles and drones to the Houthis for many years. In some cases, ships destined for Yemen have been interdicted by the US Navy and other navies that patrol off the coast. In those cases, the boats are usually disguised as commercial vessels. These types of commercial vessels may also not be very sea worthy and they can disappear in rough seas. Iran’s navy has also suffered recent setbacks.

One of its warships, the Sahand, capsized in the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas on July 7. It is one of several recent Iranian naval accidents.

According to the report at Al-Ain, security sources in Yemen “revealed to Al-Ain that the terrorist Houthi militias lost contact with a large transport boat that was on a smuggling mission via a regular sea route from the Horn of Africa countries to the coasts of the governorate overlooking the Red Sea.” The vessel was also carrying “foreign experts” and military materials for the manufacture of missiles and materials for the manufacture of explosives. It was supposed to arrive in Yemen on Friday but disappeared on Saturday.

In response the Houthis have mobilized along the coast. The Houthis do not have a large navy but they have small boats. In many cases they have used small boats as kamikaze boats to attack ships in the Red Seal. The Houthis also have drones. The Houthis mobilized fishing boats to search for the vessel. However, fishing boats don’t have the technology or range necessarily to conduct searches of this kind.

The Houthis have not asked for outside assistance and it does not appear a distress call was monitored from the smuggling vessel. The reports from Yemen say that “military personnel of non-Yemeni nationalities,” were on the ship. It was not clear if these were Iranians or other supporters of the Houthis. Iran has sent IRGC members in the past to back the Houthis.

Houthis believe US involved in boat's disappearance 

The Houthis, in urgent meetings, expressed concern that the ship may have been targeted by the US-backed Prosperity Guardian mission that is designed to protect ships in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks. The Houthis are concerned that the ship may have been interdicted by US or European navies. “The large transport boat may have fallen into the hands of the Americans," sources told Al-Ain.

The missing vessel is described as very valuable to the Houthis who have been attacking international shipping for nine months in support of Hamas. Al-Ain claimed that some sources they spoke to believe that "the loss of this boat comes after Washington and international naval forces intensified their pursuit of Iranian arms shipments smuggled to the militias, while arresting the foreign military experts on board the boat, if it is stopped by American forces, would provide the best way to map the smuggling routes used by Tehran to transport weapons to the Houthis."

The report also is supposed to add evidence to the smuggling of weapons and munitions to the Houthis. This is apparently also happening from countries in the Horn of Africa, which illustrates a new route that is potentially developing to back the Houthis. It was not immediately clear which countries this refers to. The weapons flow to ports in Yemen such as Al-Salif, Al-Ain claimed. The smuggled weapons are unloaded and night and make their way to Houthi forces in the area.

In addition to the Houthi search for the missing vessel, US Central Command said on July 14 that “in the past 24 hours, US Central Command (USCENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed two Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAV) over the Red Sea and one uncrewed surface vessel (USV) in the Red Sea.” The uncrewed surface vessels are Houthi kamikaze boats that the Houthis have recently been using more frequently in attacks.