The Gulf of Aden, a crucial artery for global maritime trade, was rocked once again this week as Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a cruise missile strike on the Dutch-flagged cargo ship Minervagracht. The incident, which occurred on Monday, September 29, 2025, around 1PM UTC, has thrown international shipping routes into further turmoil, underscoring the region’s mounting instability and the Houthis’ expanding reach beyond their traditional Red Sea stronghold.
The Minervagracht, a general cargo vessel built in 2011 and operated by Amsterdam-based Spliethoff, was sailing approximately 128 nautical miles southeast of Aden when it was struck. According to the French military’s Maritime Information, Cooperation and Awareness Centre (MICA Centre), the missile caused a fire on board, sending dense smoke billowing from the 12,200 dwt ship. The European Union’s naval mission and the US Navy-overseen Joint Maritime Information Centre confirmed the location and nature of the attack, noting that a warship was dispatched to assist the stricken vessel.
Early reports suggested two crew members were seriously wounded and all 19 sailors—hailing from the Philippines, Russia, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine—were evacuated from the burning ship. Operation Aspides, the European naval force operating in the region, confirmed the evacuation and injuries, while later updates indicated that, fortunately, there were no fatalities. The vessel, however, was left adrift and at risk of sinking, raising concerns about the environmental and navigational hazards now posed in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.
This was not the first time the Minervagracht found itself in the Houthis’ crosshairs. Just a week earlier, on September 23, the ship was targeted in the same region, though the projectile landed harmlessly about two nautical miles away. The reasons for the repeated targeting remain murky, with authorities still investigating the motives behind the attacks.
On Wednesday, October 1, Houthi military spokesperson Brigadier General Yahya Saree publicly claimed responsibility for the strike. According to Saree, the attack was carried out using a cruise missile and was aimed at punishing the vessel’s owners for allegedly violating “the entry ban to the ports of occupied Palestine.” He accused Spliethoff of having dealings with Israel, stating that the strike was also a response to what the Houthis describe as “genocide and starvation inflicted by the Zionist enemy against our people in Gaza,” and a means to reinforce the ongoing blockade on Israeli maritime traffic in the Red and Arabian Seas, as reported by The Times of Israel and Associated Press.
The Houthis’ campaign against maritime traffic in the region is not new. Since October 2023, they have launched missiles and drones at Israel and ships they allege are tied to Israeli interests. Their actions have already forced many shipping carriers to reroute vessels around Africa, bypassing the Suez Canal, which has led to soaring insurance premiums and freight costs. According to The Media Line, these disruptions have rippled through the global supply chain, threatening the flow of nearly $1 trillion in goods that once traversed the Red Sea annually.
Houthi attacks have grown in both frequency and intensity, with more than 100 vessels struck since the Gaza conflict reignited. Over the past two years, at least eight mariners have lost their lives and four ships have been sunk. Monday’s missile strike on the Minervagracht marks one of the most serious assaults by the Iranian-backed group in the Gulf of Aden, a region previously considered somewhat insulated from the violence that has plagued the Red Sea since November 2023. Regional officials have warned that the Houthis now possess the capability to project force far from Yemen’s coast, threatening trade routes that feed into the Suez Canal and, by extension, the global economy.
The international response has been swift but so far only partially effective. The US and UK have conducted strikes on Houthi launch sites and weapons depots inside Yemen, seeking to degrade the group’s ability to target commercial shipping. Meanwhile, the European Union has deployed a dedicated naval mission to escort and defend merchant vessels transiting the region. Despite these efforts, the Houthis’ campaign has continued largely unabated, with European officials describing a “rolling rescue-and-defense effort” now stretching from the Gulf of Aden deep into the Indian Ocean.
Initial investigations by the US Navy-led Joint Maritime Information Centre and the MICA Centre found no direct links between the Minervagracht and Israel. However, following the Houthis’ claims and mounting pressure, the Centre later acknowledged it was “reviewing vessel affiliations for possible links to Israel.” This ambiguity reflects the increasingly complex nature of maritime security in the region, where accusations and counterclaims often muddy the waters of accountability.
The timing of the attack is notable. It coincided with renewed Israeli ground operations in Gaza and the reimposition of United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, events that have further inflamed tensions across the Middle East. The Houthis’ missile strike on a Dutch-flagged ship far from their home shores is a stark demonstration of both their technical reach and their willingness to escalate as regional conflicts deepen.
For the international shipping community, the attack on the Minervagracht is a chilling reminder of the hazards now facing vessels in the Gulf of Aden and beyond. The region’s fragile security architecture, already under strain from overlapping wars, drone warfare, and the proliferation of long-range anti-ship weapons, is being tested as never before. With the Houthis vowing to continue their campaign until the Gaza war and blockade end, and with global powers struggling to coordinate an effective response, the world’s maritime lifelines remain perilously exposed.
As the smoke clears from the Minervagracht, the unanswered questions linger: Why was this particular vessel targeted twice in a week? Will the international community find a way to restore safety to these vital sea lanes? For now, the Gulf of Aden remains a flashpoint, its waters a mirror reflecting the region’s wider turmoil and the far-reaching consequences of conflict on the high seas.