{"id":49728,"date":"2025-07-08T21:42:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/49728\/"},"modified":"2025-07-08T21:42:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T21:42:11","slug":"yemens-houthi-rebels-attack-another-ship-in-the-red-sea-killing-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/49728\/","title":{"rendered":"Yemen’s Houthi rebels attack another ship in the Red Sea, killing 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 An attack by Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels<\/a> on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea killed three mariners and wounded two others, a European Union naval force said Tuesday, highlighting the danger of the group\u2019s renewed campaign targeting a key maritime route for international trade.<\/p>\n

The attack on the Greek-owned Eternity C<\/a> follows the Iranian-backed Houthis attacking another vessel<\/a> on Sunday in the Red Sea that they said subsequently sank. The assaults are the first Houthi attacks on shipping since late 2024 on the waterway that had begun to see more ships pass through in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t seen any real attacks on merchant shipping since December last year,\u201d said Wolf-Christian Paes, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. \u201cAnd they\u2019re back with a bang.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crew remains stuck on drifting vessel<\/p>\n

The bulk carrier had been heading north toward the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones Monday night. The security guards on board fired their weapons. The EU Operation Aspides and the private security firm Ambrey both reported those details.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n AP AUDIO: Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels attack another ship in the Red Sea, killing 3\n <\/p>\n

AP correspondent Charles de Ledesma reports Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels have attacked another ship, the Eternity C, in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

While the Houthis haven\u2019t claimed the attack \u2014 they can take days to claim one \u2014 Yemen\u2019s exiled government and the EU force blamed the rebels, as did the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Houthis are once again showing blatant disregard for human life, undermining freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,\u201d said the embassy, which has operated out of Saudi Arabia for nearly a decade due to Yemen<\/a> \u2018s wider war. \u201cThe intentional murder of innocent mariners shows us all the Houthis\u2019 true colors and will only further the Houthis\u2019 isolation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EU force offered the casualty information, saying one of the wounded crew lost his leg. The crew remains stuck on board the vessel, which is now drifting in the Red Sea.<\/p>\n

Magic Seas crew abandoned the vessel<\/p>\n

The Houthis on Sunday attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas<\/a> with drones, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, forcing its crew of 22 to abandon the vessel loaded with fertilizer and steel billets for Turkey.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday night, the Houthis released a propaganda video that included their forces hailing the vessel in English over VHF radio, threatening it. The footage included masked Houthi gunmen later boarding the empty vessel, likely on Monday following the crew escaping. <\/p>\n

The gunmen stormed the ship\u2019s bridge, running over broken glass. They then appeared in drone footage chanting the Houthis\u2019 slogan: \u201cGod is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.\u201d Finally, explosives likely planted on the vessel exploded, sinking it. The Houthis released a similar video after their attack on the tanker Sounion in August 2024<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The attack on the Magic Seas drew international criticism. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the first such attack against a commercial vessel in 2025, a serious escalation endangering maritime security in a vital waterway for the region and the world,\u201d the EU warned. \u201cThese 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<\/a> in Yemen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Philippines said 17 Filipinos were aboard the Magic Seas and another 21 on the Eternity C.<\/p>\n

The two attacks, and a round of Israeli airstrikes early Monday targeting the rebels, raised fears of a renewed Houthi campaign against shipping that could again draw in U.S. and Western forces, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s administration targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The attacks come at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance, and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following U.S. airstrikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites<\/a> during the Israel-Iran war in June.<\/p>\n

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington meeting Trump as Gaza ceasefire discussions continue. The Houthis apparently targeted the two vessels over their companies running routes to Israel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I were to venture, I guess it has to do with Netanyahu being in Washington and with the fact that, of, course, Iran and its network of allies has been taking a bit of a beating in the last couple of months,\u201d Paes said.<\/p>\n

Houthi attacks linked to Israel-Hamas war<\/p>\n

The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks<\/a> against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group\u2019s leadership has described as an effort to end<\/a> Israel\u2019s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two and killing four sailors<\/a>. Their campaign has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.<\/p>\n

The last Houthi attack, targeting U.S. warships escorting commercial ships, happened in early December. A ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war began in January and held until March. The U.S. then launched a broad assault against the rebels that ended weeks later<\/a> when Trump said the rebels pledged to stop attacking ships.<\/p>\n

Since then, the Houthis have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel<\/a>. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, had increased in recent weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Houthi attack on the Magic Seas tarnishes the U.S. claims that Operation Rough Rider had brought calm to the Red Sea and paved the way for a return to prior levels of commercial traffic through the waterway,\u201d the New York-based Soufan Center think tank said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

However, \u201cthe U.S. seems more likely to stand down unless the Magic Seas attack evolves into a broader and sustained Houthi campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 An attack by Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":49729,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[97,372,69,5755,440,8697,57,34081,6604,13790,83,99,6112,3097,50,2060,9258,16618,25680,96,103,107,13193],"class_list":{"0":"post-49728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","9":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-drones","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-houthis","16":"tag-international-news","17":"tag-international-trade","18":"tag-iran","19":"tag-israel","20":"tag-israel-iran-war","21":"tag-middle-east","22":"tag-news","23":"tag-rebellions-and-uprisings","24":"tag-red-sea","25":"tag-tariffs-and-global-trade","26":"tag-transportation-and-shipping","27":"tag-war-and-unrest","28":"tag-world","29":"tag-world-news","30":"tag-yemen"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114819796090140452","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}