Two full days adrift. That is what four crew members of the Eternity C endured in the Red Sea before rescuers reached them, the Guardian reported, and by then their ship had already gone under.
The Eternity C flew the Liberian flag and was run by a Greek operator. It had 25 people aboard when Houthi forces closed in on Monday, the Guardian said, using bombs, sea drones and grenades launched from speedboats. The BBC, citing the UK Maritime Trade Operations agency, said the ship was left with heavy damage and no propulsion. Then came a second assault on Tuesday night. Crew members jumped overboard while Houthi skiffs circled the hull.
Four seafarers died: three Filipinos and one Russian, the Guardian said, citing maritime security sources who spoke to Reuters. By Thursday, ten people had been pulled out alive. Eight were Filipino crew, one was an Indian security guard and one a Greek guard. Eleven remained unaccounted for, and six of those were believed to have been taken by the Houthis.
Those who were taken
The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the group’s navy had rescued crew members, treated them and moved them to a “safe location”. The US embassy in Yemen used a different word. It accused the Houthis of kidnapping surviving crew and demanded their release. The Houthis held the crew of another ship, the Galaxy Leader, for more than a year.
“We remain deeply concerned for the welfare of the crew members in the custody of the Houthis, as well as for those currently unaccounted for,” said Ellie Shafik, who runs intelligence at Vanguard Tech, a British maritime risk firm.
Philippine authorities told the BBC that 21 of the crew were their citizens. Diaplous, the Greece-based security firm that filmed part of the rescue, put it simply: “We will continue to search for the remaining crew until the last light.”
A ceasefire that did not hold
The Houthis claimed the ship was bound for Israel. The Guardian noted that neither this vessel nor the Magic Seas, sunk on Sunday, had any link to Israel, though the Houthis claimed both were bound for Israeli ports. All 22 crew of the Magic Seas were saved by a passing merchant vessel.
Two sinkings in a week broke the calm that followed a May ceasefire between the Houthis and the US. They also marked the first time in more than a year that the group had killed seafarers. UN envoy Hans Grundberg spoke of “grave concern” over an escalation with civilian deaths and the risk of environmental damage. The BBC counted about 70 merchant vessels targeted since November 2023, with four sunk, a fifth seized and at least seven crew dead.
The shipping lane at stake carries roughly one-third of global container traffic. The World Bank has estimated that volumes there dropped about 75% by late 2024. At least one Hong Kong-flagged vessel, Blossom Glory, broadcast its destination as “NO ISRAEL US EU LINK” as it passed Yemen on Tuesday.
Sources
- Seafarers from cargo ship attacked by Houthis rescued after 48 hours in water
- Yemen Houthis sink second Red Sea cargo ship in a week
