June 19 (UPI) — The Greek-owned vessel attacked last week by Houthi rebels in Yemen appears to have capsized and then sank after it was attacked last week by the Iran-backed Houthis, according to reports.
“The vessel is believed to have sunk,” UKMTO confirmed Wednesday just after noon local time.
The MV Tutor was manned by 22 Filipino crew members when the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier flooded after being badly damaged June 12 in a kamikaze-like ramming by an unmanned surface vessel in the Red Sea, launched by the Houthis rebels in Yemen.
“Military authorities report maritime debris and oil sighted in the last reported location,” the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said Wednesday on social media.
One crew member is believed to be dead and the 21 other crew members reportedly went home to the Philippines. The ship attack is also believed to be the second ship sunk since March by the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen.
The master of the 44,000-ton M/V Tutor reported the vessel was “taking on water and not under the control of the crew” after being hit in the stern by a “16-23-foot-long craft” in last Wednesday’s attack in the Red Sea, about 66 miles southwest of the port of Hudaydah.
One crew member originally had been reported as missing. The Tutor ship attack represents just one of a flood of other recent attacks on vessels in the region.
“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,” CENTCOM posted Friday on X.
Following the Houthi attack on the Greek vessel, U.S. forces then launched a barrage of attacks destroying Houthi radar sites that helped the group target commercial shipping vessels in military strikes, which destroyed seven radar stations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, as well as several of their sea and aerial drones, U.S. Central Command said last week.
CENT COM says 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 M/V Tutor attack at first had caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room. Most of the crew abandoned ship and was rescued by U.S. and allied forces.
CENTCOM on Monday revealed that over a 24-hour period, U.S. forces “successfully destroyed” eight Iranian-backed Houthi uncrewed aerial systems in a Houthi controlled area of Yemen in a military operation that had no reported American injuries.
And with partner forces, the United States destroyed one Houthi uncrewed aerial vehicle over the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and the African coast near Djibouti and Somalia.
“It was determined these systems presented an imminent threat to U.S., coalition forces and merchant vessels in the region,” CENTCOM said Tuesday in an official statement.
“These actions were taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure for U.S., coalition and merchant vessels.”