Houthi attacks sink second ship in the Red Sea

A bulk carrier sank days after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels presumably killed a sailor on board, authorities said early Wednesday. It was the second ship of its kind to be sunk in the rebel campaign.

The sinking of the Tutor in the Red Sea appears to mark a new escalation by the Iran-backed Houthis in their campaign against shipping through the vital maritime corridor in the wake of the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The attack came despite a months-long U.S. campaign in the region that saw the Navy face some of the fiercest naval fighting since World War II, with almost daily attacks on merchant and warships.

The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned and operated ship “Tutor” sank in the Red Sea, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center said in a warning to sailors in the region.

“Military authorities report debris and oil sighted at the last reported location,” the UKMTO said. “The ship is believed to have sunk.”

The Houthis did not immediately confirm the sinking of the ship. The U.S. military also did not immediately confirm the sinking and did not respond to requests for comment.

The Tutor was attacked by a bomb-laden Houthi drone boat in the Red Sea about a week ago. John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, said Monday that the attack killed “a crew member who was from the Philippines.” The Philippines has not yet confirmed the death, but the man who was aboard the Tutor has been missing for more than a week in the Red Sea, which is subject to intense summer heat.

The use of an explosive-laden boat raised fears about the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, when al-Qaeda carried out a suicide bombing on the warship in the port of Aden, killing 17 people on board. The Cole is now part of a U.S. Navy operation led by the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea to stop Houthi attacks, although the rebels continue their attacks.

The Houthis have carried out more than 50 attacks on ships, killing four sailors. They have hijacked one ship and sunk two since November, according to the US Maritime Administration. The Houthis have been the target of a US-led airstrike campaign since January. In a series of attacks on May 30, at least 16 people were killed and 42 others injured, according to the rebels.

In March, the Belize-flagged ship Rubymar, carrying a cargo of fertilizer, sank in the Red Sea after taking on water for days following a rebel attack.

The Houthis continue to attack ships with ties to Israel, the US or the UK. However, many of the ships they attack have little or no connection to the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

More than 37,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza war, while hundreds more have been killed in Israeli operations in the West Bank. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostage.

A recent report by the US Defense Intelligence Agency confirmed that container traffic through the Red Sea has fallen by 90 percent since December due to the attacks. Up to 15 percent of global shipping traffic flows through this corridor.