Latest news with #Hodeidah
Al Jazeera
14 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Five rescued after suspected attack by Yemen's Houthis on Red Sea vessel
Five crew members have been rescued from a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea after a suspected attack from Yemen's Houthi group, according to a maritime monitor. The attack is so far known to have killed at least three sailors out of the 22-member crew and wounded two. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre (UKMTO), run by the British military, said on Wednesday that 'search and rescue operations commenced overnight' after Monday's attack on the Greek-owned Eternity C. UKMTO had said on Tuesday that the ship sustained 'significant damage' and 'lost all propulsion'. UK-based security firm Ambrey told the AFP news agency that the badly damaged vessel had sunk off Yemen's port city of Hodeidah, which is under the control of the Houthis. 20250708-UKMTO_WARNING_INCIDENT_027-25-UPDATE 003https:// #MarSec — UKMTO Ops Centre (@UK_MTO) July 9, 2025 The Houthis, who say they are targeting Israel-linked ships as part of a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians under relentless Israeli fire, to pressure the Israeli military to end its assault on Gaza, have not claimed responsibility for the attack. However, it came one day after they claimed responsibility for attacking another cargo ship – the Magic Seas – in the Red Sea, causing it to sink. All the crew were rescued. The assaults mark the first attacks on shipping in the Red Sea since late 2024, potentially signalling the start of a new armed campaign threatening the waterway, which had begun to see more traffic in recent weeks. After Sunday's attack on the Magic Seas, the Houthis declared that ships owned by companies with ties to Israel were a 'legitimate target', pledging to 'prevent Israeli navigation in the Red and Arabian Seas … until the aggression against Gaza stops and the blockade is lifted'. Yemen's exiled government, the European Union's Operation Aspides military force and the US State Department blamed the rebels for the attack on Eternity C. 'These attacks demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,' State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. 'The United States has been clear: We will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping from Houthi terrorist attacks,' she added. The bulk carrier had been heading north towards the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones on Monday night, with security guards on board firing their weapons, according to Operation Aspides and Ambrey, cited by The Associated Press news agency. Operation Aspides told AFP on Tuesday that three people had been killed, with at least two injured, including 'a Russian electrician who lost a leg'. Authorities in the Philippines told AFP that there were 22 crew on the Eternity C, all but one of them Filipinos. The Eternity C's operator, Cosmoship Management, has not commented on casualties or injuries. In separate incidents, Israel's military and the Houthis exchanged strikes on Sunday, with Israel saying it had bombed three ports and a power plant in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, prompting the Iran-allied group to fire more missiles towards Israeli territory. Israel said it struck the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa and as-Salif on the Red Sea coast as well as the Ras Kathib power plant. It said it also struck a radar system on the Galaxy Leader, which was seized by the Houthis and remains docked in the port of Hodeidah.
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Globe and Mail
Attack on Greek vessel in Red Sea leaves two dead, at least two injured
Two crew members of the Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C were killed in a drone and speedboat attack off Yemen on Monday evening, Liberia's shipping delegation told a meeting of the International Maritime Organization on Tuesday. The deaths on the vessel, the first involving shipping in the Red Sea since June 2024, bring the total number of seafarers killed in attacks on vessels in the vital shipping corridor to six. 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 the European Union´s Operation Aspides, assigned to help protect Red Sea shipping. Hours before the attack, the Iran-aligned Houthi militant group claimed responsibility for a strike on the Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated MV Magic Seas bulk carrier off southwest Yemen on Sunday, saying the ship sank. '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 death of two seafarers,' Liberia's delegate told the U.N. shipping agency's gathering. At least two crew members were injured, the vessel's operator, Cosmoship Management, and maritime security sources told Reuters, adding that the ship was listing. 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, sources told Reuters.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Al Arabiya
Vessel sustained significant damage after being attacked west of Yemen's Hodeidah: UKMTO
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Tuesday that a vessel sustained significant damage and lost all propulsion after being attacked by five rocket grenades, 51 nautical miles (94 km) west of Yemen's Hodeidah port. Developing
The National
2 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Second Red Sea ship attacked off Yemen after Houthis claim assault on Greek bulk carrier
Two crew members were injured and two were missing after a commercial vessel was attacked on Monday night off the coast of Yemen's Hodeidah, maritime monitors reported, marking the second Red Sea attack in 24 hours following a period of relative calm. The Houthi rebels in Yemen had earlier claimed responsibility for an attack on Sunday when a Greek-operated bulk carrier was hit by gunfire, drones and missiles in the Red Sea. UK-based security firm Ambrey said on Monday a "Liberia-flagged bulk carrier was approached and attacked by two skiffs and unmanned aerial vehicles while transiting northbound in the Red Sea". "Two crew members were reportedly injured and a further two crew members were missing," it added. The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), run by the British navy, said it received reports of an incident 51 nautical miles (approximately 94 kilometres) west of Hodeidah, Yemen. The Houthis have been attacking Israel and commercial vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since the Gaza war broke out in October 2023. But the latest incidents mark a rare assault in the strategic waters near Yemen, coming two months after the US announced a truce with the country's Houthis aimed at halting attacks on shipping in the region. In response, Israel has been carrying out strikes on Yemen. The Yemeni port city of Hodeidah was struck along with the ports of Ras Isa and Salif and the Ras Al Khatib power station, according to the Houthi-run Al Masirah television station. The Israeli military said it 'struck and destroyed terror infrastructure belonging to the Houthi terrorist regime'. 'Among the targets were the ports of Hodeidah, Ras Isa, and Salif,' it said. It was the Israeli army's first attack on Yemen in about a month. The army also hit the Galaxy Leader ship docked at Ras Isa port, which was seized by the Iran-backed Houthis in late 2023, it added. Ambrey said early on Tuesday that it observed imagery that confirmed damage to the concrete docks at Yemen's Hodeidah port following Israeli strikes. Additionally, two Barbados-flagged bulk carriers likely suffered blast damage as a result of the attacks, Ambrey said in an advisory note, adding no injuries among the crews had been reported. On Sunday, the Liberian-flagged vessel Magic Seas came under attack in the Red Sea on Sunday, with several small boats opening fire on it, the UKMTO reported. The Houthis said the company's ships were "a legitimate target" because they had done business with Israel and used its ports. A UAE rescue mission brought the 22 crew members to safety.
Zawya
2 days ago
- Zawya
Two crew wounded, two missing in attack on ship off Yemen; Houthis claim assault on Greek bulk carrier
ATHENS: Two crew members of a Greek-managed vessel were wounded and two were missing in a drone attack off Yemen on Monday, hours after Iran-aligned Houthi militants claimed an assault on another bulk carrier in the Red Sea, saying the ship had sunk. Monday's attack 50 nautical miles southwest of the port of Hodeidah was the second assault against merchant vessels in the vital shipping corridor by Houthis since November 2024, said an official at the European Union´s Operation Aspides, assigned to help protect Red Sea shipping. The Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C with 22 members on board - 21 Filipinos and one Russian - was attacked with sea drones and skiffs, its manager, Cosmoship Management, told Reuters. Two crew members were seriously wounded and two were missing, the company said, adding that three armed security guards were on board. The vessel's bridge was hit and telecommunications were impacted. The ship was adrift, an Aspides official said later, after an attack by sea drones and four speedboats with individuals who launched at least four rocket-propelled grenades. The ship had not requested escort or protection from the naval force, the official added. There was no claim of responsibility for the attack. Earlier, the Houthis claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack on the Greek-operated MV Magic Seas bulk carrier off southwest Yemen. The raid involved gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades from eight skiffs as well as missiles and four uncrewed surface vessels. The 19 crew members were forced to abandon the Liberian-flagged vessel as it was taking on water. They were picked up by a passing ship and have arrived safely in Djibouti, sources said. Houthis said they sunk the vessel. But Michael Bodouroglou, a representative of Stem Shipping, one of the ship's commercial managers, said there was no independent verification. The crew had reported fires at the vessel's forepeak, in the bow. The engine room and at least two holds were flooded, and there was no electricity. Aspides had earlier warned of a risk of explosion in the ship's vicinity. Since Israel's war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas began in October 2023, the Houthis have been attacking Israel and vessels in the Red Sea in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. Israel has struck Houthi targets in response, launching strikes on Monday for the first time in nearly a month. A U.S.-Houthi ceasefire deal in May did not include Israel. The latest attacks highlight a growing operational risk to commercial operators whose vessels have called at Israeli ports, Maritime security firm Diaplous said. Magic Seas was carrying iron and fertilisers from China to Turkey, a voyage that appeared low-risk as it had nothing to do with Israel, Bodouroglou said, adding that Stem Shipping had received no warning of the attack. But the fleet of Allseas Marine, Magic Seas' other commercial manager, had made calls to Israeli ports over the past year, according to analysis by UK-based maritime risk management company Vanguard Tech. "These factors put the Magic Seas at an extreme risk of being targeted,' said Ellie Shafik, head of intelligence with Vanguard Tech. The manager of ETERNITY C is also affiliated with vessels that have made calls to Israeli ports, security sources said. John Xylas, chairman of the dry bulk shipping association Intercargo, said the crew were "innocent people, simply doing their jobs, keeping global trade moving". "No one at sea should ever face such violence," he said. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Yannis Souliotis in Athens, and Jonathan Saul in London; Editing by Aidan Lewis, Nick Zieminski and Leslie Adler)
