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The U.S. military said the Houthis used an unmanned surface vessel to attack a merchant ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday.
Iran-backed rebels have used naval drones and USVs, also known as drone boats, as part of attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, but have so far been unable to carry out any successful operational attacks.
U.S. Central Command said a vessel suspected to be carrying explosives collided with the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier M/V Tutor, saying in a statement about the incident:The USV impact caused severe flooding and engine room damage.”
Prior to CENTCOM’s statement, the UK Maritime Trade Operations, a division of the Royal Navy, said: Breaking News Earlier on Wednesday, it reported that a “small boat” had collided with a ship off the coast of Yemen in the Red Sea, described as white and 5-7 metres (16-23 feet) long.
UKMTO later said the vessel was “taking on water and is not under the command of the crew”. A subsequent update said the vessel had reported being hit “a second time by an unknown airborne projectile” and that “military authorities are assisting”.
The current status of the sunken vessel is unknown.
One Ambry Maritime Security Company officials first report Commenting on the incident, he warned that the Tutor was a “dead ship” and would require a “salvage operation”.
While the Houthis have used USVs in the past, it was only earlier this year that the rebels began actively using drones as part of a months-long attack on the shipping lanes.
Wednesday’s attack was the first successful attack by a Houthi USV during the operation. Prior to this incident, drone boats had Destroyed by Western armies, Or it didn’t hit anything and just exploded in the water.
In addition to USVs, the Houthis have also been wreaking havoc off the coast of Yemen with a multitude of anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as a variety of one-way attack drones. The rebels have used these weapons to attack numerous commercial ships since the fall, sinking one and killing the crew of another.
Over the weekend, the Houthis Collision with two merchant ships Anti-ship missile attacks have been carried out in the Gulf of Aden, but in both incidents the ships continued on their way. The Tutar attack is the latest.
The attacks come after the Pentagon recently extended the deployment of a U.S. Navy carrier strike group to fight the Houthis, with U.S. intelligence officials warning the conflict could continue for some time.