Ship attacked by Yemen's Houthi rebels sinks in the Red Sea, 6 of 25
aboard rescued
[July 10, 2025]
By JON GAMBRELL
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A Liberian-flagged cargo ship
attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels sank Wednesday in the Red Sea, and a
European naval force in the Mideast said only six of the 25 people who
were on board have been rescued.
The attack on the Eternity C, which also killed at least three of the
crew, represents the most serious assault carried out by the Houthis in
the crucial maritime trade route where $1 trillion in cargo once passed
through annually.
From November 2023 to December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100
ships with missiles and drones in a campaign the rebels describe as
supporting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war.
The Iranian-backed rebels stopped their attacks during a brief ceasefire
in the war. They later became the target of an intense weekslong
campaign of airstrikes ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The attack on the Eternity C, as well as the sinking of the bulk carrier
Magic Seas in another attack Sunday, raise new questions about the Red
Sea's safety as ships had slowly begun returning to its waters.
Meanwhile, a new possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war — as well as
the future of talks between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's battered
nuclear program — remain in the balance.
“We are now with grave concern seeing an escalation in the Red Sea with
attacks on two commercial ships earlier this week by Ansar Allah,
resulting in civilian loss of life and casualties as well as the
potential for environmental damage,” warned United Nations special envoy
Hans Grundberg, using another name for the rebels.
6 of 25 on board have been rescued
A statement from the European Union naval mission in the Red Sea said
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.
Three people also were killed during the hourslong attack on the ship,
the EU force said, and their nationalities were not immediately known.
The armed rebels had 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 EU force said. The Eternity C sank at
7:50 a.m. Wednesday, it added.
The ship, flagged out of Liberia but owned by a Greek firm, likely had
been targeted like the Magic Seas 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 likely are 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 as the EU force acknowledged it
was still searching for those onboard with private industry rescuers.
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, the rebels chanting: “God is
the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory
to Islam.”
The Houthis released a similar video after their attack on the tanker
Sounion in August 2024 and on Tuesday from their attack on the Magic
Seas.
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The Liberian-flagged bulk carrier Eternity C is seen near Cathlamet,
Oregon, July 23, 2019. (Mike Cullom via AP)
Attacks draw condemnation and support for sailors
In the Philippines, Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Cacdac said he
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 told The Associated Press by
telephone. “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.”
The attacks on the ships drew international condemnation.
“These attacks demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed
Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic
and maritime security,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Tammy
Bruce said. “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.”
The EU force earlier said one of the wounded crew lost his leg.
Grundberg, the U.N. envoy, also decried the targeting of civilian
infrastructure after Israel bombed three Houthi-controlled ports in
Yemen over the weekend and hit a power station.
“Yemen must not be drawn deeper into regional crises that threaten
to unravel the already extremely fragile situation in the country,”
he warned during an address to the Security Council.
Satellite photos show damage from an Israeli strike
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.
Jamal Amer, a Houthi official, reportedly said Wednesday that
shipments continue to arrive “smoothly” to Hodeida. In comments
published by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite channel, Amer also
said that damage at the port ”directly affects civilians and is a
disgrace to the United Nations, which is complicit in these crimes
through its suspicious silence."
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.
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