Houthis threaten 64 shipowners with attacks on vessels that call in Israel

Yemen’s rebel Houthi regime says it is targeting an unnamed group of 64 commercial shipowners with attacks on vessels that come within range of Houthi weapons.

A statement posted to the website of the Humanitarian Operations Coordination Center (HOCC) claimed Yemen’s Houthi regime is imposing "sanctions on 64 companies that violated the naval blockade against the Israeli enemy".

The statement, taken from a report by Houthi propaganda network, former news agency Saba, was posted to the HOCC website’s Recent Events section. 

In the report, the Houthi-backed HOCC said it had been sending "prepenalty notices to shipping companies with vessels heading to Israeli occupation ports, warning them of consequences for violating the naval blockade" and that "all fleets of these companies" are "prohibited" from transiting the Red Sea, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, Gulf of Aden and Arabian Sea.

The HOCC said vessels linked to the 64 companies who have received letters "are subject to targeting in any area within reach of Yemeni Armed Forces".

What the HOCC called violations by the shipping companies included both port calls and commercial activities with Israel. The HOCC also posted an update from Saba quoting the Houthi leader Mahdi al-Mashat as saying the regime is committed to "freedom of navigation from all but the Zionist entity and those who support it in its aggression against our people in Gaza".

"All shipping companies must abide by the instructions and decisions of our armed forces, and whoever ignores them will bear responsibility for that," the Houthi leader was quoted as saying, with the report noting that the Houthis advised "everyone to refrain from dealing with the assets of the Zionist entity."

HOCC describes itself as "affiliated with the Office of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and under his supervision," referring to the Yemeni Armed Forces controlled by the Al-Ansar rebel movement in Yemen. HOCC claims to "contribute to mitigating the effects and repercussions on civilians and civilian objects in the theater of military operations... through compliance with international humanitarian law.

Maritime security and risk analysis firm Ambrey noted the existence of the HOCC in a March 2024 letter to shipping clients, shortly after the first commercial seafarer fatalities caused by a Houthi missile attack on bulk carrier True Confidence.

The X social media account for head of advisory at UK-based private security firm EOS Risk Group Martin Kelly said the 64 shipping companies listed as sanctioned by the Houthi-backed HOCC had called at Israeli ports after 27 July, when the Houthis said they would be targeting any ship with business ties to Israel or Israeli ports.

Vessels attacked by the Houthis in early July 2025, Eternity C and Magic Seas, were Greek-owned commercial ships sailing under Liberian flags in the Red Sea, and Houthi spokespeople claimed the vessels’ owners had visited Israeli ports.

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