The U.S. military announced late Friday-Saturday that it had destroyed seven Houthi radars, a drone, and two unmanned boats in Yemen over the past 24 hours. U.S. Central Command stated on social media platform X, “These radars enable the Houthis to target maritime vessels, posing a risk to commercial navigation.”
This comes two days after the Houthis attacked a Greek-owned ship in the Red Sea, causing damage and stranding the vessel at sea. In this context, the British Maritime Trade Operations agency reported on Friday that military authorities evacuated the crew of the coal tanker “Totor,” referring to an incident on June 12, 66 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah in Yemen. The agency noted in an advisory that the Greek-owned cargo ship “was left drifting at the last reported location.”
Water had leaked into the ship after it was attacked in the Red Sea by the Houthis. The agency stated that the “Totor,” which was hit by a drone boat on Wednesday, “was abandoned and is drifting off course” east of the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah in western Yemen.
Earlier, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos pledged to assist his compatriot sailors on board the ship and transfer them to Djibouti with the help of the British agency. He stated, “To the Filipino sailors on board the Totor that was bombed and are unsure of what to do at this time: we are doing everything we can.”
The cargo ship, flying the Liberian flag and owned by a Greek company, was hit first by a drone boat and then by an “unspecified aerial projectile,” according to U.S. Central Command on Wednesday. Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden have been recurring since November. The Yemenis claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, confirming they used a “drone boat, aerial drones, and ballistic missiles.”
