Brazen and deadly: Houthis sink ships, kill sailors and kidnap crew in escalating Red Sea attacks

Dubai: In their most brutal escalation yet, Yemen’s Houthi militants sank two commercial ships in the Red Sea this week, killing sailors, kidnapping crew and delivering a stark warning to global shipping: No vessel is safe in these contested waters.

The Eternity C, a commodity carrier, was struck on Monday and sank two days later, the European Union naval task force Operation Aspides confirmed.

Of the 25 crew members aboard, 10 have been rescued, news agencies reported. The fate of the remaining 15 remains uncertain, though at least three fatalities have been confirmed, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Among those rescued were three Filipino crew members and a Greek security officer, who were pulled from the sea. The Philippines said 21 of the 25 crew were its nationals.

Adding to the horror, the US Embassy in Yemen accused the Houthis of kidnapping many of the surviving crew during the attack. “After killing their shipmates, sinking their ship, and obstructing rescue efforts, the Houthi terrorists have kidnapped many surviving crew members of the Eternity C,” the embassy posted on X, demanding their “immediate and unconditional release.”

A second vessel, the Magic Seas, a larger bulk carrier owned by Stem Shipping, also came under sustained attack and was later destroyed by the Houthis. In both cases, the assailants used rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire. The Eternity C’s distress signals showed the assault lasted two days. The Magic Seas was fired upon for hours.

Stem Shipping CEO Michael Bodouroglou said the attack showed "complete disregard for human life." Rockets and bullets hit the crew’s living quarters and the ship’s bridge.

Previous attacks

“The crew was taking fire indiscriminately,” he said. A passing ship managed to rescue the Magic Seas crew before the vessel was blown up and sank, Bloomberg News reported.

These latest strikes double the number of ships sunk by the Houthis. The group previously submerged the Tutor in June 2024 and the Rubymar earlier that year.

The UN’s Yemen envoy, Hans Grundberg, said the attacks risk pulling the war-torn country deeper into a widening regional conflict, warning of “civilian loss of life, casualties, and potential environmental disaster.”

The Houthis began targeting vessels in late 2023, vowing to attack ships with any connection to Israel in response to the war in Gaza.

But maritime records show murky targeting logic: The Joint Maritime Information Center (JMIC) said the owners of both Eternity C and Magic Seas have other ships that had docked in Israel, including one as recently as June — though the exact criteria for Houthi targeting remain opaque.

Before the campaign began, over $2 trillion in seaborne trade passed Yemen’s coast annually, most of it through the Suez Canal between Europe and Asia, Bloomberg reported. Red Sea traffic has since plunged by 70%, and though attacks had briefly slowed earlier this year, the latest violence is expected to reignite fears.

Shift in tactics

Despite the mounting risk, some shipowners had cautiously resumed operations after the US announced a ceasefire deal with the Houthis in May. Stem Shipping was among them — until now.

“We’ll be very sceptical about returning,” Bodouroglou said.

These latest attacks bring the total death toll from Houthi assaults to at least seven. The shift in tactics — prolonged assaults, use of heavy weapons, and crew abductions — marks a chilling escalation in a shipping crisis with global trade implications.

“These guys are scared to death,” said Corey Ranslem, CEO of maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global. “They’re not military people; they are seafarers.”