Two seamen are believed to have been killed and another two missing after an attack on a Greek-managed cargo ship off the coast of Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthis, according to Reuters.
This brings the death toll to six since the group began its maritime attacks in support of Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza in November 2023.
The attack came just hours after the group, which many Western countries have listed as a terrorist organization, claimed to have sunk a bulk carrier in the Red Sea.
According to the European Union’s Operation Aspides task group specializing on protecting shipping in the Red Sea region, the attack happened 50 nautical miles southwest of the port of Hodeidah.
The vessel, which was Liberia-flagged, had 22 crew members, 21 Filipinos and one Russian, as well as armed guards on board.
It was attacked with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades fired from manned speedboats, sources said.
An official from Cosmoship Management, which manages the vessel, told Reuters that the vessel's bridge was hit and telecommunications were impacted.
While crew were told to abandon after it suffered serious damage, the lifeboats had been destroyed in the assault.
On Monday, the Houthis had claimed responsibility for sinking the MV Magic Seas, for what the spokesman for the group said was “repeated violations by its owning company of the ban on entering the ports of occupied Palestine.”
The raid involved gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades from eight skiffs as well as missiles and four uncrewed surface vessels.
The statement also warned: “We are not satisfied with sinking just one ship, there is more to come.”
While the Houthis said the group had sunk the ship, Michael Bodouroglou, a representative of Stem Shipping, one of the ship's commercial managers, said there was no independent verification, according to Reuters.
If proven to have been sunk, it would make it the third ship to be sunk since November 2023 when the group began the blockade, following a call by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
On Sunday morning, Israel announced it had struck multiple Houthi targets.
In May, the US made a ceasefire with the group after at least 174 attacks on US warships, in addition to the group's more than 145 attacks on commercial vessels, as of March figures. That ceasefire did not include other nations.
