Cargo Ship Targeted by Houthis 'Believed to Have Sunk' in Red Sea

The attacks targeted Yemen's Hodeidah International Airport and four strikes on Kamaran Island near the port of Salif off the Red Sea, Al-Masirah TV, the main television news outlet run by Yemen's Houthi movement, said on Monday.

The strikes on Kamaran mark the first time US-led coalition forces have targeted the island since airstrikes on Houthi targets began early this year.

They follow the Iran-backed Houthis' first successful armed maritime drone strike and other missile assaults that damaged the Tutor and Verbena cargo ships last week. Both vessels are abandoned and adrift - with Tutor at risk of sinking, military and security experts said.

Meanwhile the Pentagon said that Russian, Chinese and Iranian naval vessels in the vicinity of Tutor did not respond to emergency calls for assistance. The Houthis have reportedly given assurances to Russia and China of not attacking their commercial ships.

“Among the ships that were in response distance and did nothing to assist the M/V Tutor were Iranian, Russian and Chinese naval vessels. The Tutor remains in the Red Sea and is slowly taking on water while waiting for salvage vessels to help with recovery,” Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh said during her press briefing on Monday.

The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with Palestiniansin Gaza. In that time, they have sunk one ship, seized another vessel and killed three sailors in separate attacks. The attacks began after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Muslim Nations in early November to blockade Israeli trade.

Yemen's internationally recognized government believes Houthi fighters in the past have used Kamaran Island and Port Salif as a site to launch their Red Sea attacks as well as hide stockpiles of missiles and drones in its salt mines, two military sources within the government told Reuters.

The 10-kilometers of water that stretch from the port of Salif to Kamaran Island are also part of the route that ships must transit through to reach their next port of call.

Military and security officials said the Liberian-flagged Tutor has been taking on water since the Houthis hit it with an armed boat drone and air missiles on Wednesday in the Red Sea. That attack damaged the Tutor's engine room and caused severe flooding.

Rescuers from the U.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group aircraft carrier have airlifted the Tutor's crew to safety. One sailor remains missing.

U.S. Central Command separately said crewmembers from the Palau-flagged Verbena issued a distress call this weekend due to uncontrolled fires sparked by two Houthi missile strikes in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday.

The Cayman Islands-flagged Anna-Meta wheat carrier rescued Verbena's crew and is transporting them to safety, CENTCOM said.

Despite reprisals from the U.S.-British coalition and other navies, the Houthis have escalated their campaign against commercial vessels in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

Their missile and drone attacks have forced ship owners to reroute vessels away from the vital Suez Canal shortcut - sending costs and delays cascading through the vital ocean shipping industry that transports about 80% of international trade.

"Hezbollah’s increasing aggression is bringing us to the brink of what could be a wider escalation, one that could have devastating consequences for Lebanon and the entire region," Israeli military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a video statement in English.

Hezbollah, which has been in a cross-border confrontation with Israel since the October 7 Hamas attack, intensified its bombardment of northern Israel last week, triggering strong responses by the Israeli air force. Concerns about a wider war grew, as many in Israel spoke about a decisive confrontation with the Lebanese Shiite group armed and supported by Iran.

The Israeli strike in south Lebanon village of Jouaiyya late on Tuesday killed three Hezbollah fighters alongside the senior field commander identified by Hezbollah as Taleb Abdallah, also known as Abu Taleb.

He was the most senior Hezbollah commander killed during eight months of hostilities; a source told Reuters. Old photos emerged on social media showing Abdallah with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Hagari stated that Hezbollah “has been escalating its attacks against Israel. Since deciding to join the war that Hamas started on October 7th, Hezbollah has fired over 5,000 rockets; anti-tank missiles, and explosive UAVs from Lebanon at Israeli families, homes, and communities.”

After the relatively heavy exchanges over the past week, Sunday saw a marked drop in Hezbollah fire, while the Israeli military said that it had carried out several air strikes against the group in southern Lebanon. However, Hagari warned that “Israel will take the necessary measures to protect its civilians, until security along our border with Lebanon is restored.”

The US and France are working on a negotiated settlement to the hostilities along Lebanon's southern border. Hezbollah says it will not halt fire unless Israel stops its military offensive on Gaza.

A senior Biden adviser will travel to Israel on Monday for meetings to avoid further escalation between Israel and Lebanon, the White House said.

Amos Hochstein will advance efforts to avoid further escalation along the "Blue Line" between Israel and Lebanon, said the official, who did not wish to be identified.

Hagari said that Hezbollah is endangering the future and security of Lebanon by playing the role of a “shield for Hamas terrorists who murdered the elderly, raped women, burned children, and kidnapped Jews, Muslims, and Christians, during their massacre on October 7th.”

Hagari warned that “Iran’s terror proxies continue to drag the region to destruction. Israel will continue fighting against Iran’s axis of evil on all fronts — in Gaza, in Lebanon — as we work towards a more secure future for the Middle East.”

“October 7th cannot happen again, on any one of Israel’s borders. Israel has a duty to defend the people of Israel. We will fulfill that duty, at all costs,” he added.

Around 400 Hezbollah and allied fighters have been killed in eight months of skirmishes with Israel, with dozens of Israeli soldiers and civilians dead and wounded in Hezbollah shelling of northern Israel.

Sailors assigned to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group airlifted the crew out on Saturday, NAVCENT said, adding that one civilian sailor remained missing.

The attack, which occurred near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room and left the Tutor unable to maneuver.

On Saturday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said the ship's crew was evacuated and that the abandoned vessel was drifting in the Red Sea.

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the small sea craft and missile attacks it used to target the ship as part of their ongoing campaign which they say is in support of the Palestinians and is focused on ships bound for Israel.

Iran supplies weapons to and supports Houthi forces in Yemen, which have been attacking international commercial vessels since November, disrupting a vital maritime route linking Asia with Europe.

The attacks began after Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei called on Muslim nations in early November to blockade Israeli trade.

“I don’t think people really understand just kind of how deadly serious it is what we’re doing and how under threat the ships continue to be,” Cmdr. Eric Blomberg with the USS Laboon told the AP on a visit to his warship on the Red Sea.

“We only have to get it wrong once,” he said. “The Houthis just have to get one through.”

Capt. David Wroe, the commodore overseeing the guided missile destroyers, says “it is every single day, every single watch, and some of our ships have been out here for seven-plus months doing that."

The US Navy prepared for decades to potentially fight the Soviet Union, then later Russia and China, on the world’s waterways. However, instead of a global power, it finds itself locked in combat with a shadowy, Iran-backed rebel group based in Yemen, the AP's report said.

The Houthis, an Iranian proxy group, began targeting maritime commercial traffic in mid-November following a call by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for Muslim countries to blockade Israel. Initially confined to the Red Sea, these attacks have since extended to other crucial waterways, including the Indian Ocean.

The United States and Britain have bombed Houthi military installations several times since January, but the Iran-backed group has accelerated attacks in the past two weeks, as Israel continues operations in Gaza and attacks Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The Houthi campaign has disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa. It has also stoked fears that the Gaza war - in which the local health ministry says over 37,000 have been killed - could spread and destabilize the wider Middle East.

“This ongoing malicious and reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” stated US Central Command (CENTCOM).

The Houthis, an Iranian proxy group, began targeting maritime commercial traffic in mid-November following a call by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for Muslim countries to blockade Israel. Initially confined to the Red Sea, these attacks have since extended to other crucial waterways, including the Indian Ocean.

“The Houthis claim to act on behalf of Palestinians in Gaza, yet they are targeting and endangering the lives of nationals from third countries who are unrelated to the Gaza conflict,” said CENTCOM.

According to Yahya Saree, the Iran-aligned group's military spokesman, the Houthis attacked the Verbena in the Arabian Sea as well as the Seaguardian and Athina in the Red Sea.

The attack on the Palau-flagged cargo ship Verbena resulted in a fire and severely injured one crew member, as reported by CENTCOM.

The rebels also launched two anti-ship ballistic missiles from a Houthi-controlled area in Yemen into the Red Sea. However, CENTCOM confirmed that these missiles caused no damage or injuries.

The United States and Britain have bombed Houthi military installations several times since January, but the Iran-backed group has accelerated attacks in the past two weeks, as Israel continues operations in Gaza and attacks Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.

The Houthi campaign has disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa. It has also stoked fears that the Gaza war - in which the local health ministry says over 37,000 have been killed - could spread and destabilize the wider Middle East.