Houthi Rebels Sink Cargo Ship in Red Sea Attack Killing Three

A Liberian-flagged cargo ship, the Eternity C, was attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels and subsequently sank in the Red Sea on Wednesday. The attack resulted in the deaths of at least three crew members, with only six of the 25 people on board being rescued. The crew of the ship included 22 sailors, among them 21 Filipinos and one Russian, as well as a three-member security team. Those rescued were five Filipinos and one Indian. The nationalities of the three deceased were not immediately known.

The attack on the Eternity C represents the most serious assault carried out by the Houthis in the crucial maritime trade route, where significant cargo passes through annually. The Houthis have targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones from November 2023 to December 2024, describing their campaign as support for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war. The Iranian-backed rebels stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire in the war but later became the target of an intense weekslong campaign of airstrikes ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The attack on the Eternity C, along with the sinking of the bulk carrier Magic Seas in another attack on Sunday, raises new questions about the safety of the Red Sea as ships had slowly begun returning to its waters. The future of talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran’s battered nuclear program remains in the balance, as does a new possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

The United Nations special envoy Hans Grundberg expressed grave concern over the escalation in the Red Sea, highlighting the potential for environmental damage and the loss of civilian life. The armed rebels attacked the ship with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, later using two drones and two drone boats carrying bombs to strike the vessel. The Eternity C sank at 7:50 a.m. Wednesday.

The ship, owned by a Greek firm, was likely targeted over its firm doing business with Israel. Neither vessel apparently requested an escort from the EU force. The U.S. military has two aircraft carriers in the Mideast, the USS Nimitz and the USS Carl Vinson, but both are likely in the Arabian Sea, far from the site of the attacks. There are two American destroyers believed to be operating in the Red Sea. However, the ships attacked had no U.S. ties, and a ceasefire between the Houthis and America announced after the bombing campaign earlier this year still appears to be holding.

Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a Houthi military spokesman, claimed the attack in a prerecorded message Wednesday night. The Houthis later released footage of them launching missiles at the Eternity C. The bridge appeared heavily damaged by the attack, and oil leaked from the vessel. The ship took on water from holes along its waterline before sinking beneath the waves, with the rebels chanting: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”

The attacks on the ships drew international condemnation. The U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated that these attacks demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security. The United States has been clear: We will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping from Houthi terrorist attacks.

In the Philippines, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac has been leading an effort to reach out to the families of the missing Filipino sailors to update them on the search and rescue efforts. “It’s human nature that one should be terribly worried and distraught about the situation,” Cacdac said. “It’s our role in government to be there for them in their utmost hour of need to ensure that not just government services but throughout this hand-holding process, we will provide the necessary support.”

Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press showed new damage at Yemen’s rebel-controlled port at Hodeida after it was targeted by the Israeli airstrikes. The images from Planet Labs PBC showed new portions of the pier at the port torn away by Israeli bombing, likely to affect the unloading of cargo there. In conducting the strikes, Israel said the Houthis used the port to smuggle military equipment into the country, a growing worry of analysts and Yemen watchers in recent years. Hodeida is the main entry point for food and other humanitarian aid for millions of Yemenis.

Yemen’s war began when the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government considered trying to retake Hodeida by force in 2018, but ultimately decided against it as international criticism and worries about the port being destroyed grew.