Cargo Ship Sinks off Hodeidah Hours After Sheba Intelligence Revealed Houthi Red Sea Attack Preparations

   The Indian-flagged cargo vessel Faize Noore Oliya sank off Yemen’s western coast on Tuesday after reportedly being struck by an explosive-laden boat, only hours after Sheba Intelligence published an exclusive report revealing Houthi preparations for a new attack in the Red Sea.

The attack occurred approximately 13 nautical miles south of Hodeidah, according to preliminary Yemeni maritime sources. The vessel sustained severe damage and later sank, while Yemeni naval and Coast Guard units rescued all 14 crew members, including 13 Indian nationals and one Yemeni sailor. No casualties were reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sheba Intelligence cited sources inside the Houthi movement as saying that the group had expanded its military and security deployments across Hodeidah and surrounding coastal areas as part of preparations for a new operation against sensitive targets in the Red Sea.

The exclusive report said Houthi Preventive Security personnel had been deployed around facilities associated with missile, drone and maritime operations, while additional measures were introduced to secure coastal positions supporting the group’s Red Sea attack network.

The timing and location of the vessel’s sinking give added significance to Sheba Intelligence’s warning. The incident occurred off the same coastal area where the report had identified accelerated Houthi deployments and preparations for a potential maritime strike.

No group has formally claimed responsibility for the attack, and there has been no independent confirmation that the vessel was targeted as part of the operation described in the Sheba Intelligence report. The available information nevertheless indicates a strong temporal and geographic correlation, although it does not yet establish a definitive operational link.

Maritime Surveillance Background

The incident also occurred amid increased monitoring of Indian-flagged wooden cargo vessels operating between the Horn of Africa and Houthi-controlled ports on Yemen’s western coast.

Before the attack, the maritime security unit at PTOC Yemen said it was closely monitoring two traditional wooden vessels—MSV Gulshane F. Kadri and Al Salima-MNV-2190—over what it described as unusual operating patterns and suspected repeated voyages to the Houthi-controlled port of Al-Salif.

PTOC Yemen is a maritime monitoring and research center linked to Force 400, an intelligence unit affiliated with the National Resistance Forces led by Tariq Saleh, whose forces are deployed along Yemen’s western coast.

The warning did not identify Faize Noore Oliya, and no evidence has emerged linking the sunken vessel to either of the two ships named by PTOC Yemen. However, the alert highlights growing security scrutiny of traditional Indian wooden cargo vessels operating along routes connecting Djibouti, the southern Red Sea and Houthi-controlled coastal ports.

The PTOC assessment should also be viewed in its institutional context: it was issued by an intelligence-linked body affiliated with a Yemeni force involved in the conflict, rather than by an independent international maritime authority.

The convergence of Sheba Intelligence’s warning about Houthi attack preparations, increased surveillance of Indian wooden vessels and the subsequent sinking off Hodeidah points to a rapidly deteriorating maritime security environment along Yemen’s western coast.

The incident further demonstrates the vulnerability of smaller commercial vessels operating close to Houthi-controlled coastal areas, particularly those with limited identification data, irregular AIS transmissions or operating patterns that may expose them to surveillance, misidentification or deliberate targeting.