By JON GAMBRELL, Related Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An assault by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship within the Crimson Sea killed three mariners and wounded two others, a European Union naval pressure stated Tuesday.
The assault on the Greek-owned Eternity C follows the Houthis claiming they attacked one other vessel on Sunday within the Crimson Sea, an important maritime commerce route. The dual assaults are the primary Houthi assaults on delivery since November 2024 and probably sign the beginning of a brand new marketing campaign threatening the waterway, which had begun to see extra ships move by it in latest weeks.
The majority service had been heading north towards the Suez Canal when it got here below hearth by males in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones Monday evening. The safety guards on board additionally fired their weapons. The European Union Operation Aspides and the non-public safety agency Ambrey each reported these particulars.
Whereas the Houthis haven’t claimed the assault, Yemen’s exiled authorities and the EU pressure blamed the rebels for the assault, as did the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.
“The Houthis are as soon as once more displaying blatant disregard for human life, undermining freedom of navigation within the Crimson Sea,” stated the embassy, which has operated out of Saudi Arabia for practically a decade attributable to Yemen’s wider warfare.
“The intentional homicide of harmless mariners reveals us all of the Houthis’ true colours and can solely additional the Houthis’ isolation.”
The EU pressure provided the casualty info, saying one of many wounded crew misplaced his leg within the assault. The crew stays caught on board the vessel, which is now drifting within the Crimson Sea.
The Houthis individually attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk service Magic Seas on Sunday with drones, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms hearth, forcing its crew of twenty-two to desert the vessel. The rebels later stated it sank within the Crimson Sea with its cargo of fertilizer and metal billets for Turkey.
“It’s the first such assault towards a business vessel in 2025, a severe escalation endangering maritime safety in an important waterway for the area and the world,” the EU warned. “These assaults instantly threaten regional peace and stability, international commerce and freedom of navigation as a world public good. They’ll negatively impression the already dire humanitarian state of affairs in Yemen. These assaults should cease.”
The 2 assaults and a spherical of Israeli airstrikes early Monday focusing on the rebels raised fears of a renewed Houthi marketing campaign towards delivery that might once more attract U.S. and Western forces, notably after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration focused the rebels in a serious airstrike marketing campaign.
The assaults come at a delicate second within the Center East, as a potential ceasefire within the Israel-Hamas warfare hangs within the steadiness, and as Iran weighs whether or not to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes focusing on its most delicate atomic websites throughout the Israel-Iran warfare in June.
The Houthis have been launching missile and drone assaults towards business and army ships within the area in what the group’s management has described as an effort to finish Israel’s offensive towards Hamas within the Gaza Strip.
Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis focused greater than 100 service provider vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them and killing 4 sailors. Their marketing campaign has drastically lowered the circulation of commerce by the Crimson Sea hall, which usually sees $1 trillion of products transfer by it yearly. Transport by the Crimson Sea, whereas nonetheless decrease than regular, has elevated in latest weeks.
The Houthis paused assaults till the U.S. launched a broad assault towards the rebels in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis hadn’t attacked a vessel till this previous weekend, although they did proceed occasional missile assaults focusing on Israel.
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