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Philippine minister says 21 sailors rescued

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Missing Filipino crew member believed to be in engine room

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Industry group demands end to targeted attacks on

seafarers

(Recasts lead, adds quotes from migrant workers ministry in

paragraphs 2-3 and 10, background in paragraph 4)

By Neil Jerome Morales and Jonathan Saul

MANILA/LONDON, June 15 (Reuters) - The crew of a

Greek-owned vessel damaged in an attack by Yemeni Houthi

militants has been evacuated and the abandoned ship is drifting

in the Red Sea, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations and

a Philippine minister said.

The search for one missing sailor will continue and there is

a plan to start salvaging operations for the Tutor, the

Liberia-flagged coal carrier, Hans Leo Cacdac, the Philippines'

migrant workers minister said on Saturday. He said the vessel's

22 crew members were all Filipinos.

"It just boils down to finding our seafarer who is still

onboard," Cacdac told a press conference in Manila.

The attack near the Yemeni port of Hodeidah on Wednesday

caused severe flooding and damage to the engine room and left

Tutor unable to manoeuvre. It was the third Houthi attack on a

ship manned by Filipino seafarers since last year, with two

Philippine sailors dying and 17 still held by militants,

government data show.

Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility for the missile

strike on Tutor and another vessel, Verbena, in the Gulf of

Aden, over the past days. Their attacks also damaged two other

ships in the last week, "marking a significant increase in

effectiveness," British security firm Ambrey said.

The Houthis have used drones and missiles to assault ships

in the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden

since November, saying they are acting in solidarity with

Palestinians in the Gaza war. They have sunk one ship, seized

another vessel and killed three seafarers in separate attacks.

"This situation cannot go on," International Maritime

Organization Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said in a

statement.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr said the

country's authorities were coordinating with the UKMTO to take

the crew members to Djibouti and bring them home.

The missing crew member was believed to be trapped in the

engine room, maritime sources and the Philippines' migrant

workers ministry said.

Tutor is not sinking and can be safely towed away, Cacdac

said after a meeting with the ship's manning agency. He added

that Filipino seafarers have the right to refuse boarding in

ships passing through Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The ship's Athens-based manager Evalend Shipping has not

responded to Reuters' requests for comment.

Tsavliris Salvage Group has been assigned to tow the ship,

which is carrying 80,000 tonnes of coal, a source with knowledge

of the matter told Reuters. The project will involve two

vessels. The first is expected to reach Tutor on Monday morning

and the second on Tuesday evening.

The Houthis' air and sea campaign has disrupted global

shipping, causing delays and costs to cascade through supply

chains. At least 65 countries and major energy and shipping

companies - including Shell, BP, Maersk

and Cosco - have been affected, according to a

report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.

INTERCARGO, which represents dry cargo ship owners, urged

states to enhance maritime security in the area.

"We demand that all involved parties cease their deliberate

and targeted attacks on innocent seafarers with immediate

effect," it said.