An Indian-flagged vessel capsized and sunk after it was hit by a projectile off the coast of Yemen, officials say.

All 14 people on board the MSV ​Faize Noore Oliya - 13 of which were Indian nationals - were safely rescued, India's Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said.

Sonowal condemned the "unprovoked attack" and said steps would be taken to ensure the safety of seafarers in the region. It is not clear who struck the ship.

It is the latest in a spate of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, an alternative waterway that some tankers had been using since Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz in February.

India's ministry of external affairs later released a statement calling attacks on commercial shipping in the region "deeply worrisome".

"The targeting of commercial shipping in the region must end, and free and unimpeded navigation and commerce through the international waterways in the region, in keeping with international law, must be restored at the earliest," the ministry said.

Much of the region's shipping routes have been disrupted since the US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February.

Since then, Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's busiest oil shipping channels, hugely impacting global oil prices.

Some ships carrying oil from Saudi Arabia had instead passed through an alternative shipping lane in the Red Sea, but a recent spate of attacks by Yemen's Houthi fighters on Saudi tankers has further heightened risks in the region.

Yemen's transportation ministry, part of the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government, accused ​the Iran-backed Houthis of carrying out the ​attack by using a boat laden with explosives, Reuters news agency reported.

The group have not commented on the incident.

The Houthis announced what it called a blockade on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea ports on 20 July.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations ⁠agency has reported several attacks on ships in the region over the past week.

Despite this, oil prices fell to a three-week low on Tuesday as senior US officials raised hopes of a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

In June, the US and Iran agreed on a 14-point Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to halt military operations and reopen the Strait, as well as to reach an agreement to end the war over the following 60 days.

But three weeks after it was signed, US President Donald Trump declared the ceasefire "over" after Iranian attacks on ships in the strait, and US strikes in response.

US officials said on Tuesday that talks have been progressing, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggesting a deal to reopen the Strait could be agreed as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday.

Iran has said it is not negotiating with the US - and has no plans to do so - and is instead talking to Oman.

 

SOURCE/AUTHOR : BBC NEWS/Sofia Ferreira Santos