Wednesday, June 19, 2024

ECOCIDE

Shipping industry urges Red Sea action as Yemen's Houthis sink second vessel

The world's top shipping associations said it was 'deplorable' that 'innocent seafarers are being attacked while simply performing their jobs'.



The New Arab Staff & Agencies
19 June, 2024

The Houthis are a rebel group in Yemen
 [MOHAMMED HUWAIS/AFP via Getty Images-file photo]

Urgent action must be taken in the Red Sea to stop attacks on merchant shipping by Yemen's Houthis, leading industry groups said on Wednesday, after the sinking of a second ship.

Iran-aligned Houthi militants first launched drone and missile strikes on the important trade route in November in what they say is solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

In more than 70 attacks, they have also seized one vessel and its crew and killed at least three seafarers.

"It is deplorable that innocent seafarers are being attacked while simply performing their jobs, vital jobs which keep the world warm, fed, and clothed," the world's top shipping associations said in a joint statement.

"These attacks must stop now. We call for states with influence in the region to safeguard our innocent seafarers and for the swift de-escalation of the situation in the Red Sea."

The Greek-owned Tutor coal carrier attacked by Yemen's Houthi militants in the Red Sea last week has sunk, salvagers confirmed on Wednesday.

The vessel was struck with missiles and an explosive-laden remote-controlled boat, according to sources.

International naval forces have been deployed to provide mainly defensive support for ships still sailing through the Red Sea, but the attacks have increased significantly.

Insurance industry sources said on Wednesday there was also mounting concern over the use of attack drone boats by the Houthis.

"They are harder to defend against and potentially more lethal as they strike the waterline," one industry source said.

"Missiles have - to date - mainly caused deck and superstructure damage [to ships]."

There have been 10 Houthi strikes so far in June compared with five in May, said Munro Anderson, head of operations at marine war risk and insurance specialist Vessel Protect, part of Pen Underwriting.

"The first successful use of an unmanned surface vessel represents a new challenge for commercial shipping within an already complex environment," he added.

Insurance industry sources said that additional war risk premiums, paid when vessels sail through the Red Sea, had hovered close to 0.7 percent of the value of a ship in recent days from around one percent earlier this year.

They added that with a second ship sinking and the losses likely to emerge from that, rates are likely to firm up, adding hundreds of thousands of dollars of extra costs to every voyage.

Ships must divert around southern Africa, which is the best way to protect seafarers, said Stephen Cotton, General Secretary with the International Transport Workers' Federation, the leading seafarer's union.

"We would also welcome proper escorts and the shielding of ships by naval forces, which would reduce the risks of ships being hit," he added.

(Reuters)



Houthis believed to have sunk Greek-owned ship as they continue attacks in the Red Sea

The Greek-owned Tutor coal carrier was struck by missiles and an explosive-laden remote-controlled boat on June 12 and had been taking on water.


Wednesday 19/06/2024

Sailors from the Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group assist distressed mariners rescued from the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier M/V Tutor that was attacked by Houthis, in the Red Sea, June 15, 2024. REUTERS

CAIRO/LOS ANGELES

Yemen’s Houthi militants are believed to have sunk a second ship, the Tutor, in the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Tuesday.

The Greek-owned Tutor coal carrier was struck by missiles and an explosive-laden remote-controlled boat on June 12 and had been taking on water, according to previous reports from UKMTO, the Houthis and other sources.

“Military authorities report maritime debris and oil sighted in the (Tutor’s) last reported location,” UKMTO said in a security update.

The Tutor’s manager could not immediately be reached for comment.

One crew member, believed to be in the Tutor’s engine room at the time of the attacks, remains missing.

The Iran-aligned Houthis have been targeting commercial ships in the Red Sea region since November, in what they say are attacks in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

The UK-owned Rubymar was the first ship sunk by the Houthis. It went down on March 2, about two weeks after being struck by missiles.

The UKMTO’s report of the suspected Tutor sinking comes a week after the Houthis seriously damaged that Liberia-flagged ship, as well as the Palau-flagged Verbena, which was loaded with wood construction material.

Sailors from the Verbena abandoned ship when they were unable to contain a fire sparked by the attacks. The Verbena is now drifting in the Gulf of Aden and vulnerable to sinking or further assaults.

Since November, the Houthis have also seized another vessel and killed three sailors in separate attacks.

The Houthi drone and missile assaults have forced shipping firms to divert vessels from the Suez Canal trade shortcut to the longer route around Africa, disrupting global trade by delaying deliveries and sending costs higher.

US and British forces on Monday conducted air strikes targeting Yemen’s Hodeidah International Airport and Kamaran Island near the port of Salif off the Red Sea in what appeared to be retaliation for last week’s ship attacks.

The US military said on Tuesday it had destroyed eight Houthi drones in Yemen and one over the Gulf of Aden in the past 24 hours.

US Central Command said on the social media site X that there were no injuries nor damage reported to US, coalition or merchant vessels in the incident.
Managers of the Galaxy Leader cargo ship on Tuesday renewed calls for Yemen’s Houthi militants to release the vehicle carrier’s 25 crew, who have been held for seven months.

The militants used helicopters to attack the Bahamas-flagged ship on November 19. They captured the Bulgarian ship master and chief officer, along with 17 Filipinos and other sailors from Ukraine, Mexico and Romania, STAMCO Ship Management Co Ltd said in a statement.

“There is nothing to be gained by the Houthis in keeping the 25 crew members,” said STAMCO, which requested that they be released to their families without further delay.

Galaxy Maritime Limited in the Isle of Man owns the Galaxy Leader.

The Houthis have used drones and missiles to assault ships in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden since November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza war.

The International Chamber of Shipping, which represents ship owners, has called the Houthi attacks “unacceptable acts of aggression which threaten the lives of innocent seafarers and the safety of merchant shipping”.

Last week, Houthis made direct strikes on two ships, the Liberia-flagged Tutor coal carrier and Palau-flagged Verbena, which was loaded with wood construction material.

Those assaults prompted security experts to note a significant increase in the effectiveness of the Iran-aligned militants’ drone and missile attacks.


Ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in fatal assault sinks in Red Sea in their second sinking


Yemen’s Houthi rebels sink another carrier in the Red Sea killing at least one sailor on board. AP news director Jon Gambrell explains the ongoing attacks by Houthis in the Red Sea as a second ship targeted sinks.

BY JON GAMBRELL
June 19, 2024

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A bulk carrier sank days after an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels believed to have killed one mariner on board, authorities said early Wednesday, the second ship sunk in the rebels’ campaign.

The sinking of the Tutor in the Red Sea marks what appears to be a new escalation by the Iranian-backed Houthis in their campaign targeting shipping through the vital maritime corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The attack comes despite a monthslong U.S.-led campaign in the region that has seen the Navy face its most-intense maritime fighting since World War II, with near-daily attacks targeting commercial vessels and warship.

The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned-and-operated 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 maritime debris and oil sighted in the last reported location,” the UKMTO said. “The vessel is believed to have sunk.”

The Houthis, quoting foreign reports in media outlets they control, acknowledged the sinking. The U.S. military did not acknowledge the sinking, nor did it respond to requests for comment.

The Tutor came under attack about a week ago by a bomb-carrying Houthi drone boat in the Red Sea. John Kirby, a White House national security spokesman, said Monday that the attack killed “a crew member who hailed from the Philippines.” The Philippines has yet to acknowledge the death, but the man who had been aboard the Tutor has been missing for over a week in the Red Sea, which faces intense summertime heat.

The use of a boat loaded with explosives raised the specter of the attack in 2000 on the USS Cole, a suicide assault by al-Qaida when the warship was at port in the Yemeni city of Aden, killing 17 on board. The Cole is now part of a U.S. Navy operation in the Red Sea led by the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower to try and halt the Houthi attacks, though the rebels continue their assaults.

The Houthis have launched more than 60 attacks targeting specific vessels and fired off other missiles and drones in their campaign that has killed a total of four sailors. They’ve seized one vessel and sunk two since November. A U.S.-led airstrike campaign has targeted the Houthis since January, with a series of strikes May 30 killing at least 16 people and wounding 42 others, the rebels say.

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

The Houthis have maintained their attacks target ships linked to Israel, the U.S. or the U.K. However, many of the ships they’ve attacked have little or no connection to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.

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

A recent report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency acknowledged container shipping through Red Sea has declined by 90% since December over the attacks. As much as 15% of the world’s maritime traffic flows through that corridor.

Meanwhile Wednesday, the Houthis said U.S.-led airstrikes targeted Raymah, a province in Yemen under rebel control. The Houthi-controlled SABA news agency described a local radio station’s building as being “totally destroyed” in the strikes. About a week earlier, the Houthis said similar strikes killed two people and wounded nine others, without saying if those hurt were fighters or civilians.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said in an earlier statement it destroyed eight Houthi drones in Yemen, while also destroying a Houthi drone in flight over the Gulf of Aden over the last day.

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