The Liberian-flagged cargo ship Eternity Sea, operated by a Greek company, came under sustained attack on Monday and Tuesday. In an update on the attack, the agency reported that search and rescue operations began overnight and resulted in the rescue of five crew members, while the search for the remaining crew members continues.
Philippine authorities said the majority of the 22-member crew was Filipino, while the European maritime security mission Aspedis confirmed the deaths of three crew members, including the chief engineer, an engine room worker, and a trainee. At least two others were injured, including a Russian electrician who lost a leg. The final death toll has yet to be confirmed.
In a related development, the Houthi group released a video on Tuesday showing the complete sinking of the commercial vessel Magic Seas in the Red Sea off the coast of Al Hudaydah Governorate in western Yemen after being targeted by Houthi forces.
The video showed the ship's crew refusing to heed Houthi naval forces' warnings, followed by the ship being targeted by unmanned naval boats and stormed by special forces, before the ship completely sank.
The Houthi group explained in a statement that the attack on the ship, which occurred last Sunday, was due to the violation by its owner, the Greek Paragon Shipping, of the Yemeni Armed Forces' decision prohibiting ships from entering the ports of occupied Palestine.
Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the ship Magic Seas, operating under the Liberian flag, entered Israeli ports three times over the past week despite Houthi naval warnings.
Separately, the UAE announced on Monday that it had successfully rescued all 22 crew members, after the "Safina Prism", a vessel owned by Abu Dhabi Ports Group, responded to a distress call from the merchant vessel following the attack in the Red Sea.
It is worth noting that this is the first Houthi attack targeting shipping lanes since the beginning of this year.
For months, the Houthi group has been launching attacks on Israeli ships, ships linked to Israeli ships, or ships bound for Israeli ports, as part of its support for the Gaza Strip in the face of Tel Aviv's genocidal war.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The genocide, backed by the United States, left more than 194,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons and a famine that claimed the lives of many, including dozens of children.
