Rescuers search for survivors after three sailors killed in Houthi attack in Red Sea

The Greek-owned Eternity C vessel was first hit off the coast of Yemen on Monday evening.

Five sailors have been rescued in the Red Sea after the Iran-backed Houthis attacked a Liberian-flagged cargo ship, killing at least three of its crew members and wounding several others. The Yemeni rebels first targeted the Greek-owned vessel Eternity C on Monday evening, according to European and US officials. The ship had been making its way north towards the Suez Canal before it came under attack from drones and armed men in small boats. In an advisory, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre said that “search and rescue operations commenced overnight” on Wednesday to help those who had been travelling onboard. Five crew members have been rescued so far, the UKMTO said.Although the ship status could not be immediately confirmed, reports on Wednesday suggested that it had sunk. The Houthi attack against the Eternity C came shortly after the rebel group, which controls much of northern and western Yemen, targeted the cargo vessel the Magic Seas on Sunday. After its crew was rescued, the Magic Seas sank earlier this week. Both attacks happened in the same area roughly 100 kilometres southwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeida, which the Houthis control. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the US State Department condemned the recent events in the Red Sea. “The United States condemns the unprovoked Houthi terror attack on the civilian cargo vessels MV Magic Seas and MV Eternity C in the Red Sea, which resulted in the tragic loss of three mariners, with many others injured and the complete loss of the MV Magic Seas and its cargo,” it said. “These attacks demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,” the statement added. The assaults mark the first Houthi attacks in the important maritime corridor since last year. The group began targeting ships there in late 2023 over Israel’s war in Gaza.