Yemen's Houthis release mariners held since July ship attack
[December 04, 2025]
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Wednesday
released 11 mariners held since a July attack on the ship Eternity C in
the Red Sea, an assault that killed four on board and sank the vessel.
The Iranian-backed Houthis, who have been targeting ships during the
Israel-Hamas war, said via their al-Masirah satellite news channel that
Oman had taken custody of the mariners, who were flying to the
sultanate.
Oman later said it received the 11 mariners — who are from India and the
Philippines — “in preparation for their return to their home countries.”
However, the Houthis later released images of only 10 mariners. It
wasn't clear why the 11th releasee wasn't shown.
A Royal Oman Air Force jet landed earlier Wednesday in Sanaa, the Yemeni
capital held for over a decade by the rebels, according to
flight-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press. Following the
Houthi announcement, the plane was tracked leaving Yemeni airspace.
Oman later published images of the men being greeted on arrival in
Muscat, the sultanate's capital, by Filipino and Indian diplomats.
The Philippines said Tuesday it expected nine Filipino mariners held by
the Houthis since the attack to be released. The Foreign Ministry in
Manila described the mariners as being “held hostage by the Houthis”
since the attack, something the U.S. government also had said earlier.
The Houthis offered no immediate breakdown on the nationalities of those
released. It had described their forces as rescuing the men after they
abandoned the crippled ship following the attack. It contended the men
spent "five months spent as guests, not detainees.”
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In this image released by Oman News Agency, mariners held for months
by Yemen's Houthi rebels arrive in Muscat, Oman, Wednesday, Dec. 3,
2025. (Oman News Agency via AP)
The Houthis have targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and
drones in their campaign, sinking four vessels. The attacks have
killed at least nine mariners, after a crew member aboard one vessel
targeted, the Minervagracht, died of his wounds in October.
The Houthis have held mariners for months in the past, and it wasn’t
immediately clear why they released the mariners now.
The Houthis stopped their attacks during a brief, earlier ceasefire
in the war in Gaza. They later became the target of a weekslong
campaign of airstrikes ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump before
he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels. The
current ceasefire in the war has again seen the Houthis hold their
fire.
Meanwhile, the future of talks between the United States and Iran
over Tehran’s battered nuclear program is in question after Israel
launched a 12-day war against the Islamic Republic in June that saw
the U.S. bomb three Iranian atomic sites.
___
Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines,
contributed to this report.
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