BP pauses Red Sea shipments as another commercial vessel is attacked near Yemen

A Norwegian-owned vessel was attacked in the Red Sea on Monday in a strike that U.S. officials said originated from Yemeni territory controlled by the Iran-aligned Houthi movement.

The attack on the M/V Swan Atlantic was the latest in a series on ships sailing the sea since the start of the Gaza war.

The owner of the ship said it was hit by an unidentified object and that none of its crew had been injured.

Oystein Elgan, chief executive of owner Inventor Chemical Tankers, told Reuters the ship's water tank had been damaged in the attack but all the vessel's systems were operating normally.

Operator Uni-Tankers said in a statement the crew had brought under control a small fire after the vessel was struck on its port side. The ship was carrying vegetable oils and is sailing to Reunion Island.

Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for launching an attack on two ships by naval drones, group military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement published on X on Monday. The Houthis identified the two ships as the Swan Atlantic and MSC Clara, the spokesperson added.

Oil and gas giant BP became the latest company to pause transit through the area. Shipping giants MSC, Hapag-Lloyd, CMA CGM and Maersk had done so earlier, according to a CNBC report.

"In light of the deteriorating security situation for shipping in the Red Sea, BP has decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea," the company said. "We will keep this precautionary pause under ongoing review, subject to circumstances as they evolve in the region."

The Suez Canal shipping route, which leads to the Red Sea, is a vital waterway for global trade, used to transport energy and other goods between Europe and Asia, and elsewhere. The route saves on time and expense by avoiding navigating around the entire Africa continent.

The Houthis have attacked vessels in the Red Sea area in protest of Israel's offensive in Gaza, launched in response to the Hamas attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7. They say they are attacking vessels with links to Israel and have warned against sailing toward there.

Inventor Chemical Tankers has no ties to Israel, Elgan said. A U.S. Navy destroyer responded to the ship's distress calls by moving toward the ship, the U.S. officials said.

Attacks have occurred in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, the southern outlet of the Red Sea, between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African coast.

The Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader, meanwhile, was seized by Houthis last month.

The Houthis said on Saturday that real steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip would contribute to "reducing the escalation." They also said that they were in Oman-mediated talks about its sea "operations."