Merchant Ship Hit By Drone In Red Sea, UK Maritime Office Reports

A merchant vessel in the Red Sea was struck by a drone on Sunday, approximately 65 nautical miles west of Hodeidah, Yemen, according to Al Jazeera citing the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UK MTO).

The ship is going to its next port of call and “all crew members are reported safe”, it added.

Al Jazeera reported that following the claim by Yemen’s Houthi rebels of hitting a commercial vessel with a ballistic missile after its use of an Israeli port, a separate incident saw a Greek-owned ship sink in the Red Sea on June 20 after an attack by the Iranian-backed Houthis, as per CBS News citing the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

The vessel, identified as MV Tutor and registered under the Liberian flag, is reported to be the second ship sunk by Houthis since March. The first was the British-registered vessel Rubymar, which was downed by ballistic missiles launched from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.

The Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have attacked ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with missiles and drones on numerous occasions since Israel invaded Gaza in response to Hamas’s offensive on Southern Israel in October of last year.

After the Hamas terrorist group launched attacks, tensions escalated in the Middle East, with significant regional players condemning the humanitarian crises resulting from the conflict, as CNN reported.

“The Houthis claim to be acting on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza and yet they are targeting and threatening the lives of third-country nationals who have nothing to do with the conflict in Gaza. The ongoing threat to international commerce caused by the Houthis in fact makes it harder to deliver badly needed assistance to the people of Yemen as well as Gaza,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated.

Earlier this month, the US Central Command stated that CENTCOM conducted strikes on Houthi radars, which aided the group’s continued attacks on ships in the Red Sea.