A crew member of the Greek-owned bulker “Tutor”, which was the latest victim of attacks in the Red Sea believed to be carried out by Iran-backed Houthis rebels, has reportedly died. According to maritime sources, the seaman’s body appears to have been trapped in the flooded engine room of the ship.
It was still unclear if the demise of the crew member was caused by the missile impact or if he drowned when water flooded the engine room. The combined attack, allegedly by the Houthis, with a maritime drone and missiles against a Greek-owned cargo ship on Wednesday is the second incident in the Red Sea involving a crew-member’s death following a Houthi attack.
Numerous such attacks have been blamed in the past on the Iran-back Houthi rebels operating in parts of Yemen bordering on the Red Sea. The ship was sailing to India when it was hit, according to the Greek ministry source, confirming the incident.
The 82,000-dwt Tutor became the first vessel to be hit by a maritime drone and also suffered at least one missile attack. Since Wednesday, the crew had lost control of the vessel, which has suffered “severe flooding and damage to the engine room,” according to sources from the U.S. military and naval intelligence. The vessel sustained an attack nearly 67 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah, according to the UK security firm Ambrey.
