Ten rescued, more missing after deadly Huthi ship sinking

DUBAI (AFP): Ten people have been rescued after Yemen’s Huthis sank a cargo ship, an EU naval force said Thursday, with three killed and 12 missing in one of the rebel group’s deadliest Red Sea attacks.

Three Filipino crew and a Greek member of the Eternity C ship’s onboard security team were plucked from the sea overnight, “bringing the total number of those rescued to 10”, the European Union’s Operation Aspides force posted on X.

On Wednesday, the Iran-backed Huthis said they had “rescued” an unspecified number of the Eternity C’s crew and taken them to a safe location. The US embassy for Yemen accused the rebels of kidnapping the survivors.

The deadly attack was the second such assault on a commercial vessel in recent days, marking a serious escalation in a key waterway and threatening a May truce with the United States meant to safeguard freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The Huthis also released a propaganda video showing the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier being attacked and sunk — the second sinking of a cargo ship in quick succession, after they scuttled the Magic Seas on Sunday.

A total of 25 people were onboard the Liberian-flagged Eternity C, according to Aspides, the EU’s naval task force patrolling the Red Sea.

On Tuesday, the force told AFP that three people were killed and at least two wounded, including a Russian electrician who lost a leg, in the Huthi attack.

The two consecutive incidents broke a months-long lull in Huthi ship attacks in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, which began after the start of the Gaza war.

The attacks, which the Huthis say are against Israel-linked shipping and in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, have forced many companies to avoid a route that normally carries about 12 percent of global trade.

‘Grave concern’

The Huthis, who control large swathes of the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, had paused their shipping attacks this year after a Gaza ceasefire started in January.

Huthi-held areas of Yemen also came under weeks of heavy attack by the United States military until a ceasefire in May. However, the rebels told AFP at the time that they would continue to attack “Israeli” ships.

The Magic Seas and Eternity C were probably attacked “due to prior Israeli port calls or ownership/ship manager affiliations”, according to the Joint Maritime Information Centre, run by Western navies.

The United Nations envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, expressed “grave concern” over the latest attacks that resulted in “civilian loss of life and casualties as well as the potential for environmental damage”.

While the Magic Seas crew was rescued by an Emirati ship, the attack on the Eternity C is the most deadly since three were killed in a missile attack on the True Confidence merchant vessel in March last year.

Other Huthi attacks include the storming and hijacking of the Galaxy Leader, a vehicle carrier, in November 2023, and the sinking of the Rubymar carrying 21,000 tonnes of fertiliser in February 2024.