DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) 鈥� A Liberian-flagged cargo ship attacked by Yemen's Houthi rebels sank Wednesday in the Red Sea, with a European naval force in the Mideast saying only six of the 25 on board had been found so far.
The attack on the Eternity C, which killed at least three of the crew, represents the most serious assault carried out by the Houthis in the crucial maritime trade route. It follows the Iranian-backed Houthis , on Sunday in the Red Sea, which they subsequently sank.
A statement from the EU鈥檚 Operation Aspides 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 recovered were five Filipinos and one Indian.
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 assaults are the first Houthi attacks on shipping since late 2024 in the waterway that had begun to see more ships pass through in recent weeks.
A search for survivors is ongoing
The bulk carrier Eternity C had been heading north toward the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and bomb-carrying drones Monday night. The security guards on board fired their weapons. The EU naval mission and the private security firm Ambrey both reported those details.
The attacks on the ships drew immediate international condemnation.
鈥淭hese attacks demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,鈥� State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. 鈥淭he United States has been clear: We will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping from Houthi terrorist attacks.鈥�
The EU force said one of the wounded crew lost his leg. The crew remains stuck on board the vessel, which is now drifting in the Red Sea.
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 Israeli airstrikes over the weekend. 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 鈥渟moothly鈥� to Hodeida. In comments published by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite channel, Amer also said that damage at the port 鈥漝irectly 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鈥檚 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.
Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
