DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A bulk carrier has sunk days after coming under attack. Yemen’s Houthi rebels Authorities said one sailor was believed to have been killed in a rebel attack early Wednesday, making the vessel the second to be sunk in rebel operations.
The sinking of the Tutar in the Red Sea appears to mark a new escalation in operations by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels targeting ships passing through a key maritime corridor in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The attack follows months of U.S.-led operations in the region. The Navy faces the fiercest naval battle Attacks on merchant ships and warships have occurred almost daily since World War II.
The British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations Centre issued a warning to sailors in the region, saying the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned and operated ‘Tutor’ had sunk in the Red Sea.
“Military authorities have reported seeing wreckage and oil at sea in the last reported location,” UKMTO said. “The vessel is believed to have sunk.”
The Houthis did not immediately acknowledge the sinking, nor did the U.S. military immediately acknowledge the sinking or respond to requests for comment.
The Tutar was attacked by a Houthi bomb-laden drone ship in the Red Sea about a week ago. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Monday that a “crew member from the Philippines” was killed in the attack. The Philippines has yet to acknowledge the deaths, but the man aboard the Tutar has been missing for more than a week in the sweltering summer heat in the Red Sea.
The use of explosives-laden boats evokes the horror of the 2000 attack on the USS Cole, when an al-Qaeda suicide bomber bombed a warship docked in the port of Aden, killing 17 crew members. The Cole is currently taking part in U.S. Navy operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea to thwart Houthi attacks, but the rebels continue their attacks.
of The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks The attack on a vessel left four sailors dead. The U.S. Maritime Administration said it has seized one vessel and sunk two since November. A U.S.-led air campaign has been targeting the Houthis since January. Series of strikes May 30 The rebels said at least 16 people were killed and 42 were wounded.
March, The Belize-flagged Ruby Marr sank in the Red Sea with a cargo of fertilizer. After being flooded for several days following rebel attacks.
The Houthis claim that their attacks are targeting ships linked to Israel, the US and Britain, but many of the vessels they have attacked have little or no connection to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
The war in Gaza has left more than 37,000 Palestinians dead, while hundreds more have been killed in Israeli military operations in the West Bank. Hamas-led extremists They attacked Israel on October 7, killing approximately 1,200 people and taking approximately 250 hostages.
A recent report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency acknowledged that container shipping through the Red Sea has fallen by 90% since the attacks in December last year. 15% of the world’s maritime traffic passes through this corridor.
