Yemen Monitor/Reporting Unit
The Red Sea, once a vital maritime corridor, has become a perilous zone due to escalating Houthi attacks on commercial vessels.
Since the onset of the conflict in Yemen, the Houthi militia has increasingly targeted civilian shipping in the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. These attacks, often involving missiles and drones, have resulted in significant damage, casualties, and disruptions to global trade.
The recent attacks have claimed the lives of numerous seafarers and led to the sinking of several vessels. In March 2024, the Houthi missile strike on the True Confidence resulted in the tragic loss of three lives and severe injuries to others. Similarly, the Tutor and Rubymar incidents highlight the devastating consequences of these attacks.
The detailed toll of the Houthi attacks over ships in the red sea which led to either loss of lives or properties can be showed as follows:
A Houthi missile that struck Barbados-flagged, 50,000-dwt True Confidence bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden in March 2024 took the lives of three mariners and left at least four others injured, three severely.
Another seafarer’s life was taken in mid-June 2024 when 82,000-dwt bulk carrier Tutor was targeted in a Houthi drone and missile attack. The crew was forced to abandon ship, and the vessel was reportedly sunk in a follow-up attack.
On 2 March, Belize-flagged, UK-owned bulk carrier Rubymar sank in the Red Sea after being struck by a Houthi missile two weeks earlier on 18 February. According to US Centcom, the vessel had been slowly taking on water and drifting following the attack.
US Centcom said the 18 February missile attack had caused a 29-km oil slick to form around the vessel. The ship was carrying about 21,000 tonnes of fertiliser, CENTCOM said.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government’s foreign minister at that time and the current Prime Minister Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) at the time, “The sinking of the Rubymar is an environmental catastrophe that Yemen and the region have never experienced before.”
The fatal missile and drone attacks against merchant vessels transiting through the once heavily trafficked bodies of water in the Red Sea region have prompted sefarer’s union Nautilus International, among others, to call for the cessation of Red Sea transits by commercial vessels.
“No commercial interests should ever take precedence over the safety and lives of our seafarers,” Nautilus International said in a message directed at shipowners in March in the wake of the deadly attack on True Confidence. “We believe it is time for those shipowners who are continuing to transit through the Red Sea to reassess the necessity of their decision considering recent events including the sinking of Rubymar and the tragic incident on board True Confidence,” the union said.
Many shipowners and operators have altered shipping routes to take vessels around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Red Sea and Suez Canal, a difference of between one and two weeks for various cargoes and ship types.
In a televised speech, Abdulmalik Al-Houthi pledged to continue attacks on ships on the red sea in an attempt to pressure the international community and Israel to stop the attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. These attacks have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The disruption of vital supplies, including food and medicine, has contributed to widespread suffering and increased the risk of famine.
The Houthis have targeted more than 120 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the war in Gaza started in October 2023. They seized one vessel and sank two in the campaign, which also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by a U.S.-led coalition in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have included Western military vessels as well.
Last but not least, in its first anniversary, It should not be forgotten that Houthies hijacked the ship Galaxy Leader and its 25 crew members who still held as detainees until the writing of this report.
