Houthis release mariners held in custody since Iran-backed rebels sank ship in July
Terror group says Oman given custody of crew of Eternity C, a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier ship that was attacked in the Red Sea, killing at least four
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Wednesday released mariners held since a July attack on the ship Eternity C in the Red Sea, an assault that killed at least four on board and sank the vessel.
The Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists, who have been targeting ships during the Israel-Hamas war, said via their al-Masirah satellite news channel that Oman had taken custody of the mariners, who were flying to the sultanate.
Oman did not immediately acknowledge the release. However, a Royal Oman Air Force jet landed earlier Wednesday in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital held for over a decade by the rebels, according to flight-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press. Following the Houthi announcement, the plane was tracked leaving Yemeni airspace.
The Philippines on Tuesday said it expected nine Filipino mariners held by the Houthis since the attack to be released.
The Foreign Ministry in Manila described the mariners as being “held hostage by the Houthis” since the attack.
The Houthis offered no immediate breakdown on the nationalities of those released. It had described their forces as rescuing the men after they abandoned the crippled ship following the attack.
READ #DFAStatement: DFA Statement on M/V Eternity C
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— DFA Philippines ???????? (@DFAPHL) December 2, 2025
The attack on the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier also left 11 people missing.
The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre, which sparked the Gaza war.
The group has targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones in their campaign, sinking four vessels. The attacks have killed at least nine mariners, after a crew member aboard one vessel that was targeted, the Minervagracht, died of his wounds in October.
Their campaign upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion of goods passed each year before the war. While insisting it only targeted Israel-affiliated vessels, the ships attacked at times had limited — if any — relationship to the Israel-Hamas war.
The Houthis have held mariners for months in the past, and it wasn’t immediately clear why they released the Eternity C crew now.
The group has also targeted Israel with over 130 ballistic missiles and dozens of cruise missiles and drones, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July 2024, prompting Israel’s first strike in Yemen. Dozens of people have been injured in other Houthi attacks.
Israel has attacked the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, located some 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) away, 19 times.
Since a ceasefire in the Gaza war began on October 10, no attacks have been claimed by the rebel group. The last Houthi missile attack on Israel was apparently on October 5, and the last drone attack on October 7.
Meanwhile, the Houthis have increasingly threatened Saudi Arabia and taken dozens of workers at UN agencies and other aid groups as prisoners, alleging without evidence that they were spies — something fiercely denied by the UN and others.
The Times of Israel Community.