Crews evacuated from two ships hit by the Houthis

The crews of two vessels struck by the Houthis in recent days were forced to evacuate ship over the weekend with the Yemeni militants showing no let up in their attacks on merchant shipping. Both ships are reportedly at risk of sinking. 

The Houthis have displayed greater sophistication in their attacks on merchant shipping this past week, hitting targets both by sea and air for the first time.

Their first successful sea drone strike on a commercial ship, Evalend Shipping’s Tutor kamsarmax, sustained damage and water ingress in the engine room last Wednesday with reports emerging that one seafarer died in the attack.

Another attack on Thursday on the Verbena, a general cargo ship owned by Ukraine-based Donbasstransitservice, saw three projectiles hit the ship, creating a severe blaze onboard with nearby US military personnel medevacing one seriously injured seafarer to hospital. 

All crew on both ships were evacuated on Saturday with images from both sites showing the vessels were severely damaged. Salvors have been sent to try and save the Tutor while the fate of the Verbena remains unknown. 

The Houthis claimed to have targeted a number of other vessels over the weekend. 

In early March, the Rubymar became the first constructive total loss from the Houthi campaign, sinking in the Red Sea, having been hit by missiles in the middle of February. 

Last week was a noticeable step up for the Houthis, both in terms of the volume of attacks as well as their improving accuracy.

Commenting on the escalation, Arsenio Dominguez, the secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said: “I’m appalled at the fact that seafarers going about their work continue to be targeted and injured.”

Dominguez reiterated his urgent call to find a solution to the ongoing Red Sea shipping crisis which has seen more than 100 vessels targeted by the Houthis since last November. 

“This situation simply cannot go on. Everybody is going to feel the negative effect if international shipping is not able to trade as normal,” the IMO head said.

“Commercial ships and innocent seafarers must be allowed safe passage as they go about their regular business of carrying trade across the globe. We reiterate our call for international governments to do all they can to ensure the safety of merchant ships and civilian seafarers,” shipmanagement trade body InterManager told Splash on Friday.