DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Crew members aboard a Liberian-flagged ship set ablaze by a series of attacks in the Red Sea abandoned the vessel Sunday night as it took on water, marking the first serious assault in the vital corridor for trade after a monthslong campaign by Yemen’s Houthi rebels there.

A ship in the Red Sea was attacked and set on fire by suspected Houthi militants, forcing the crew to abandon it. This attack marks the first in the area since April and exacerbates Middle East tensions.

Sunday’s attack comes against a backdrop of soaring regional tensions following the Israel-Hamas war, airstrikes by the United States on Iranian nuclear sites, and a brief Iran-Israel conflict