The bulk carrier Eternity C pictured in 2019.Credit: AP
The Houthis said they had rescued a number of the ship’s crew, provided them with medical care and transported them to a safe location.
Earlier this week, International Maritime Organisation Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez condemned the attacks as “deplorable” and a “renewed violation of international law”.
“Innocent seafarers and local populations are the main victims of these attacks and the pollution they cause,” he said.
In Washington, the State Department condemned the “unprovoked Houthi terror attack” on the ships and said it would “continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation”.
Ships attacked
The Eternity C was carrying grain to Somalia for the World Food Programme and was targeted on Monday after completing its trip.
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The Houthis released footage of missiles being launched at the ship, with drone imagery showing its bridge appearing heavily damaged and oil leaking from the hull.
The bulk carrier took on water from holes along its waterline before sinking, as the rebels chanted: “God is the greatest, death to America, death to Israel, curse the Jews, victory to Islam.”
On Sunday, the Houthis used missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire to target the Magic Seas, another Greek-owned, Liberian-flagged vessel, the UKMTO said.
The Houthis released another dramatic video of that attack, showing masked gunmen storming the ship before sinking it with explosive charges.
Twenty-two people on board were rescued, the United Arab Emirates said.
The Red Sea is a crucial maritime trade route where $US1 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 several weeks of bombing ordered by US President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, a new possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war – as well as the future of talks between the US and Iran over Tehran’s battered nuclear program – remain in the balance.
‘Grave concern’
“We are now with grave concern seeing an escalation in the Red Sea with attacks on two commercial ships resulting in civilian loss of life and casualties as well as the potential for environmental damage,” warned UN special envoy Hans Grundberg.
The Eternity C, flagged out of Liberia but owned by a Greek firm, was probably targeted like the Magic Seas over its owners doing business with Israel. Neither vessel apparently requested an escort from the EU force.
Washington has two aircraft carriers in the Middle East, the USS Nimitz and the USS Carl Vinson, but both are probably in the Arabian Sea, far from the site of the attacks.
US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee recently posted a social media update suggesting B-2 bombers could “visit Yemen”.Credit: AP
There are two American destroyers believed to be operating in the Red Sea. However, the ships attacked had no US ties, and a ceasefire between the Houthis and America announced after the bombing campaign this year still appears to be holding.
Houthi military spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the attack in a prerecorded message on Wednesday as the EU force acknowledged it was still searching for those onboard.
In the Philippines, migrant workers secretary Hans Cacdac said he had been leading an effort to reach out to the missing sailors’ families 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.
Grundberg, the UN envoy, also condemned 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.
Last week, following the interception of a Houthi missile fired at Israel, US ambassador Mike Huckabee posted on X that “Maybe those B2 bombers need to visit Yemen!”
Yemen’s war began when the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen’s exiled government considered trying to retake the rebel-held port of Hodeida by force in 2018, but ultimately decided against it amid international criticism and concerns that it would be destroyed.
