Search for survivors after Houthis sink second Red Sea cargo ship in a week

BBC:

Six crew members have been rescued and at least three others killed after a cargo ship was attacked by Yemen’s Houthis and sank in the Red Sea, a European naval mission says.

The Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated Eternity C was carrying 25 crew when it sustained significant damage and lost all propulsion after being hit by rocket-propelled grenades fired from small boats on Monday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency.

The attack continued on Tuesday and search rescue operations commenced overnight.

The Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked the Eternity C because it was heading to Israel, and that they took an unspecified number of crew to a “safe location”.

The US embassy in Yemen said the Houthis had “kidnapped many surviving crew members” and called for their immediate release.

Authorities in the Philippines said 21 of the crew were citizens. Another of them is a Russian national who was severely wounded in the attack and lost a leg.

It is the second vessel the Houthis have sunk in a week, after the group on Sunday launched missiles and drones at another Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated cargo ship, Magic Seas, which they claimed “belong[ed] to a company that violated the entry ban to the ports of occupied Palestine”.

Video footage released by the Houthis on Tuesday showed armed men boarding the vessel and setting off a series of explosions which caused it to sink.

All 22 crew of Magic Seas were safely rescued by a passing merchant vessel.