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Middle East conflict

Magic Seas ship sinks in Red Sea after Houthi attack

The Magic Seas was en route from China to Turkey, loaded with ferrous metals and fertilizers

DUBAI, July 7. /TASS/. The Magic Seas dry-cargo vessel has sunk in the Red Sea after an attack by the Houthis from Yemen’s rebel Ansar Allah movement, Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said.

"The Magic Seas ship has sunk following a strike delivered by our armed forces in response to numerous violations by the shipowner who kept on ignoring our ban of the passage of ships to the occupies Palestinian ports," he wrote on his Telegram channel.

The Magic Seas dry-cargo carrier was attacked off the Yemeni coast on July 6. According to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Coordination Center (UKMTO), the attackers approached the ship in motor boats and used firearms, grenade launchers, and uncrewed boats to attack it. The ship received serious damage, caught fire and began to leak water.

Stem Shipping, a Greek company operating the vessel, confirmed earlier that all the 19 crewmembers had evacuated from the ship and were in safety.

The Magic Seas was en route from China to Turkey, loaded with ferrous metals and fertilizers.

Following the escalation of the conflict in the Gaza Strip in 2023, the Yemeni rebel movement Ansar Allah (the Houthis) wared Israel that it would shell its territory while barring ships associated with the Jewish state from passing through the waters of the Red Sea and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until Tel Aviv ceased its military operation against Palestinian radical group Hamas in the embattled enclave. Since mid-November 2023, dozens of civilian ships have been attacked by the Houthi in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

After a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect in the Gaza Strip, the Yemeni rebels suspended strikes on Israel but following the breakdown of the ceasefire, the Houthis resumed attacks on ships associated with Israel and on targets in Israel’s territory.

On March 15, the US started to carry out massive strikes on Houthi facilities in Yemen based on an order from President Donald Trump. The US Central Command said that the goal was to defend American interests and restore freedom of navigation. In response, the Ansar Allah movement carried out several attacks on the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman in the northern part of the Red Sea, using missiles and drones.

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