Four people are presumed dead and 11 others are still missing after a Liberian-flagged cargo ship sank in the Red Sea following an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels, a European Union naval mission said Friday.

Yemen's Houthis sank two cargo ships in the Red Sea this week, the first flare-up in seven months in the Iran-backed group's years-long campaign to choke global shipping in protest over the war in Gaza and the plight of the Palestinians.

The Red Sea is a critical waterway for oil and commodities but traffic has dropped sharply since Houthi attacks off Yemen's coast began in November 2023.