The Iran-backed Houthi terrorists of Yemen attacked and sank the Greek-operated bulk carrier ship Eternity C near the Houthi-controlled port city of Hodeidah on Monday.
It was the second ship to suffer massive damage and sink from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea this week.
The Houthis made their first “swarm” attack on Sunday, when they used a combination of small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades, missiles, and remote-controlled boats loaded with explosives against the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas. The massive cargo ship caught fire and began taking on water, forcing the crew to abandon ship.
Houthi nautical terrorism during the Gaza war previously consisted of sporadic missile and drone fire, which generated a great deal of alarm among shipping companies, but only inflicted severe damage on a few occasions.
The Houthis made a deal with the Trump administration in May to “pause” their attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea, although they insisted their position on using terrorist violence to support the Palestinians in Gaza had not changed.
The Yemeni insurgents are once again an active threat and they appear to have become much more dangerous by concentrating a large number of weapons on single targets, overwhelming private security forces aboard the targeted ships.
The swarm tactic was employed for a second time against the Eternity C on Monday, reportedly killing at least three members of the crew. The ship was headed for the Suez Canal when it was attacked by a combination of armed men in small boats and bomb-carrying sea drones. A second attack on Tuesday fatally damaged the ship and forced the crew to leap into the water.
According to maritime security sources, seven members of the crew have been rescued after spending over 24 hours in the water. The Houthis may have taken some of the other crew members hostage. Most of the crew are Filipinos.
The European Union (EU) naval force in the Red Sea said one of the recovered crew members lost his leg in the attack.
“These attacks directly threaten regional peace and stability, global commerce and freedom of navigation as a global public good. They can negatively impact the already dire humanitarian situation in Yemen,” the EU warned in a statement on Tuesday.
“After several months of calm, the resumption of deplorable attacks in the Red Sea constitutes a renewed violation of international law and freedom of navigation,” said Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
“Innocent seafarers and local populations are the main victims of these attacks and the pollution they cause,” he added.
The U.S. State Department condemned the “unprovoked Houthi terror attack on the civilian cargo vessels MV Magic Seas and MV Eternity C in the Red Sea” in a statement on Tuesday.
“These attacks demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,” said State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
“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, which must be condemned by all members of the international community,” Bruce said.
The Houthis appear to be unmoved by appeals to peace and international responsibility. The Associated Press (AP) reported the Houthis released a propaganda video of their assault on the Magic Seas on Tuesday, including footage of masked gunmen boarding the ship.
The AP reported:
The gunmen stormed the ship’s bridge, running over broken glass. They then appeared in drone footage chanting the Houthis’ slogan: ‘God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.’ Finally, explosives likely planted on the vessel exploded, sinking it.
The chant performed by the terrorists in the video is the official motto of the Houthi movement, which refers to itself as Ansar Allah, or “Army of Allah.”
International Institute for Strategic Studies senior fellow Wolf-Christian Paes told the AP the renewed and escalated Houthi attacks were probably inspired by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week, and the fact that “Iran and its network of allies has been taking a bit of a beating in the last couple of months.”
The Houthis formally took credit for the Magic Seas attack on Monday, but have not issued a statement about the Eternity C attack as of Wednesday morning.
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