Four killed in attack by Yemen’s Houthis on Greek-owned ship in Red Sea

Four seafarers on the Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C were killed in a drone and speedboat attack off Yemen, an official with knowledge of the issue said on Tuesday, the second incident in a day after months of calm.

The Red Sea, which passes Yemen’s coast, has long been a critical waterway for the world’s oil and commodities but traffic has dropped since the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

The deaths on the Eternity C, the first involving shipping in the Red Sea since June 2024, bring the total number of seafarers killed in attacks on vessels plying the Red Sea to eight.

The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — have not commented on the Eternity C, though Yemen’s exiled government and the EU force blamed the rebels, as did the US Embassy in Yemen.

“The Houthis are once again showing blatant disregard for human life, undermining freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” said the embassy, which has operated out of Saudi Arabia for nearly a decade due to the civil war in Yemen.

“The intentional murder of innocent mariners shows us all the Houthis’ true colors and will only further the Houthis’ isolation,” it added.

The vessel’s operator, Cosmoship Management, was not immediately available to comment on the reported fatalities.

A source with knowledge of the matter said one more injured crew member had died on board following the attack.

An official with Aspides, the European Union’s mission assigned to help protect Red Sea shipping, also said at least two other crew members were injured. Liberia’s shipping delegation had told a United Nations meeting earlier that two crew members had been killed.

Eternity C, with 22 crew members — 21 Filipinos and one Russian — on board, was attacked with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades fired from manned speedboats, maritime security sources told Reuters.

The ship was now adrift and listing, the sources said.

Two maritime security firms, including Greece-based Diaplous, are preparing to mount a rescue mission for the crew trapped on Eternity C.

According to sources, Greece was in diplomatic talks with Saudi Arabia over the incident.

Hours before the latest attack, the Houthis had claimed responsibility for a strike on another Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier, the MV Magic Seas, off southwest Yemen on Sunday, saying the vessel sank. They subsequently released a video of what they said was their attack on the Magic Seas. The footage included the Mayday call, multiple explosions, and the ultimate submersion of the ship. Reuters could not independently verify the footage.

The vessel’s manager said the information about the sinking could not be verified, but Ambrey managing director Joshua Hutchinson told Reuters the maritime security firm had a response vessel in the area and confirmed the Magic Seas had gone down.

All crew on the Magic Seas were rescued by a passing merchant vessel and arrived safely in Djibouti on Monday, Djibouti authorities said.

“Just as Liberia was processing the shock and grief of the attack against Magic Seas, we received a report that Eternity C again has been attacked, attacked horribly and causing the death of two seafarers,” Liberia’s delegation told a session of the International Maritime Organization.

The latest attacks in the Red Sea, along with a round of Israeli airstrikes early Monday targeting the rebels in response to their ballistic missile fire at Israel, raised fears of a renewed Houthi campaign against shipping that could again draw in US and Western forces, particularly after US President Donald Trump’s administration reached an agreement with the rebels in May.

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 American airstrikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites during the Israel-Iran war in June.

The Houthis held their fire when a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in January 2025. By that point, they had fired over 40 ballistic missiles and dozens of attack drones and cruise missiles at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July 2024, prompting Israel’s first strike in Yemen.

Since March 18, 2025, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis have launched 58 ballistic missiles and at least 13 drones at Israel. Several of the missiles have fallen short and almost all of the others have been intercepted.

“After several months of calm, the resumption of deplorable attacks in the Red Sea constitutes a renewed violation of international law and freedom of navigation,” IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez said on Tuesday.

“Innocent seafarers and local populations are the main victims of these attacks and the pollution they cause.”

‘Elevated risks’

Both the Eternity C and Magic Seas were part of commercial fleets whose sister vessels have made calls to Israeli ports over the past year.

“The pause in Houthi activity did not necessarily indicate a change in underlying intent. As long as the conflict in Gaza persists, vessels with affiliations, both perceived and actual, will continue to face elevated risks,” said Ellie Shafik, head of intelligence with the Britain-based maritime risk management company Vanguard Tech.

Filipino seafarers — who form one of the world’s largest pools of merchant mariners — have been urged to exercise their right to refuse to sail in “high-risk, war-like” areas, including the Red Sea after the latest strikes, the Philippines’ Department of Migrant Workers said on Tuesday.

Shipping traffic through the region has declined by around 50% from normal levels since the first Houthi attacks in 2023, according to Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer with shipping association BIMCO.

“This reduction in traffic has persisted due to the ongoing unpredictability of the security situation. As such, BIMCO does not anticipate the recent attacks will significantly alter current shipping patterns,” Larsen said.

Monday’s attack on Eternity C, 50 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah, was the second on merchant vessels in the region since November 2024, according to an official at Aspides.