That came via a Security Council resolution, which also called on the Houthis to release the Galaxy Leader.
It's a Japanese-operated ship linked to an Israeli businessman that the group commandeered last November.
The UNSC also demanded the vessel's 25-person crew be freed.
Eleven members of the council voted for the measure, while four, including veto-wielding Russian and China, abstained.
None voted against.
Linda Thomas Greenfield is the U.S. ambassador to the UN:
"The threat to navigational rights and freedoms in the Red Sea is a global challenge that necessitates a global response."
Wednesday's measure includes an implicit endorsement of a US-led task force, called Operation Prosperity Guardian, that has been defending commercial ships in the Red Sea and other areas from Houthi attacks.
The attacks have disrupted maritime commerce, and led some shipping lines to take longer routes to avoid the Red Sea, which could increase energy and food prices.
The Houthis are an Iran-aligned group that seized much of Yemen in a civil war, and have vowed to attack ships linked to Israel or bound for Israeli ports to show support for Hamas Islamists battling the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
However, many of the targeted ships have had no links to Israel.
A Houthi spokesman dismissed the UN resolution as a 'political game' and said the U.S. was the one violating international law.
