‘Attacks must stop now’: Shipping demands states step in and fix deadly Red Sea crisis

Shipping has appealed directly to countries with influence in the Middle East to help end attacks on commercial vessels after the latest death of a seafarer following a Houthi seaborne drone attack.

Fourteen organisations representing shipowners, managers, ports, masters, pilots and shipbrokers on Wednesday condemned the latest wave of attacks and the continuing detention of crew held by the Yemen rebel group and its Iranian ally.

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A Filipino sailor died when a Greek bulker, the 82,000-dwt Tutor (built 2022) owned by Evalend Shipping, was attacked and damaged on 12 June.

The crew subsequently the abandoned vessel and it sank before it could be salvaged.

It is the second time seafarers have been killed in a Houthi attack.

Three were killed and another two seriously injured in an attack on the Barbados-flagged, 50,448-dwt bulker True Confidence in the Gulf of Aden in March.

The industry statement also condemned the anti-ship cruise missile attack on the 11,400-dwt bulker Verbena (built 2008) in which a seafarer was left severely injured.

“The shipping community is appalled and deeply saddened with the tragic news that yet another seafarer seems certain to have been killed,” it said.

“We utterly condemn these assaults, which directly contravene the fundamental principle of freedom of navigation.

“This is an unacceptable situation, and these attacks must stop now. We call for states with influence in the region to safeguard our innocent seafarers and for the swift de-escalation of the situation in the Red Sea.”

The statement was signed by shipowner groups including Bimco and the International Chamber of Shipping. Other signatories included the International Federation of Shipmasters’ Associations and the International Maritime Pilots’ Association.