Latest news with #Liberia-flagged
Libya Observer
2 days ago
- Business
- Libya Observer
Libya exports ammonia shipment to Greece from Brega port
The Libyan Fertilizer Company announced on Monday the start of loading an ammonia shipment onto the tanker MT-Oceanic Moon for export to Greece via the Brega oil port. The Liberia-flagged tanker, with a capacity of around 16,500 metric tonnes, began loading on Sunday after docking at Brega port on 19 July, according to a company statement on Facebook. Economy Tagged: Libyan Fertilizer Company
GMA Network
6 days ago
- GMA Network
'I thought I was going to die': Pinoy sailor recounts Houthi attack in Red Sea
A view shows the sinking of what is said to be the Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier MV Magic Seas that was, according to Yemen's Houthis, attacked following an alleged exchange with the captain, off southwest Yemen, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 8, 2025. HOUTHI MEDIA CENTER/Handout via REUTERS Filipino seafarer Cocoy was off-duty and resting in his cabin when the captain's voice boomed over the intercom of the cargo ship: "We are under attack". The 38-year-old realized what sounded like a "knock" from inside the vessel was gunfire being exchanged by ship security and Houthi rebels swarming the ship in small boats. The July 6 assault on the Greek-owned Magic Seas broke a months-long lull in attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Red Sea shipping, which began after the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. Crew members scrambled to reach the "muster station" at the center of the ship, considered the safest place should a projectile strike the vessel. "There was panic, but we knew we had to move. It's like we were on autopilot," said Cocoy, who asked to be referred to by his nickname as he undergoes a debriefing. "(The crew) were in a daze, but they were all rushing to do their assigned jobs for our safety protocol... maybe I looked dazed too," he told AFP. "There were speedboats from the right, left and back of our ship," he said, relaying what the ship's security team had told him. "There was also a bigger boat with around 15 crew who were attempting to board our ship, but luckily, our armed guards were able to stop them." Of the 22 aboard the ship, 17 were Filipino . The group huddled inside the muster station for nearly five hours as the ship's three armed Sri Lankan security guards tried to stave off the attack. "I lost count of how many hits we took," he told AFP of Houthi projectiles. A Houthi spokesman would later claim that five ballistic and cruise missiles and three drones had been employed in the attack. One would breach the hull. "The flooding had started so we decided to abandon the ship," Cocoy said. "We deployed our lifeboat, all 22 of us, and left our main vessel." Filipino sailors make up as much as 30% of the world's commercial shipping force. The nearly $7 billion they sent home in 2023 accounted for about a fifth of remittances sent to the archipelago nation. While a seafarer for more than 15 years, it was Cocoy's first passage through the Red Sea, and what he called a case of "really bad timing". "During the gunfight, the faces of my wife and child flashed before my eyes. I kept thinking... will they survive without me?" he said. "I thought I was going to die." After abandoning ship, Cocoy and his shipmates spent three hours floating in the Red Sea before being picked up by a Panama-flagged container ship. "They were the longest hours of my life," he said. The Magic Seas was no longer within their sight as it sank beneath the waves. 'We were just lucky' A day after Cocoy's ordeal, another vessel crewed largely by Filipino sailors, the Eternity C, was attacked and sunk. Ten of those aboard were rescued. Another 15 are dead or missing. It was the deadliest such assault since three people were killed in a missile attack on another ship in March last year. On Wednesday night, eight Filipinos rescued from the Eternity C landed at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. The Iran-backed Houthis said last week they had "rescued" an unspecified number of the Eternity C's crew and taken them to a safe location, prompting charges of kidnapping by the US government. Maritime news journal Lloyd's List reported six Filipino seafarers as "believed taken hostage". The Philippine government has so far offered no information about the possibility of either hostages or negotiations. "I feel terrified for the (missing) Eternity C crew," Cocoy told AFP. "We were just lucky, because all of us survived... I pray that many of their crew can still be located alive." Cocoy, who is plagued by nightmares of the attack, said he is unsure if he will return to the sea. "What happened to us was not normal," he said, urging shipowners to find routes that avoid the Red Sea. "It's something that no one should ever experience." —Agence France-Presse
New Indian Express
7 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Ex-army man missing after Houthi strike on cargo vessel
ALAPPUZHA: A Kayamkulam native posted as security officer has been missing since July 7 after Houthi rebels attacked and sunk the cargo ship he was on in the Red Sea. Anilkumar Raveendran, 52, of Pathiyoor is among the 12 crew members of Liberia-flagged M V Eternity C who are missing since the attack. One other Keralite crew member, Augustine from Parassala in Thiruvananthapuram, was rescued along with six others by the European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR). Anilkumar, a retired Indian Army officer, last contacted his family via phone on July 6, a day before the attack and told them the ship was heading towards the Red Sea. The family is now frantically seeking information about his whereabouts. Anilkumar's wife Sreeja, who was officially informed about his disappearance by the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, has reached out to the Union government as well as Alappuzha MP K C Venugopal urging immediate intervention to locate and rescue her husband.
Straits Times
17-07-2025
- Straits Times
Russian crew member of ship sunk by Houthi militants undergoing treatment in Yemen
FILE PHOTO: A vessel said to be Greek-operated, Liberia-flagged Eternity C sinks in a footage released by Yemen's Houthis, in the Red Sea, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released on July 9, 2025. HOUTHI MEDIA CENTER/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo A Russian crew member of a Greek cargo ship sunk by Houthi militants is undergoing treatment in Yemen, Russia's state RIA news agency said on Thursday, quoting a source. RIA identified the Russian mariner as Aleksei Galaktionov, one of several crew members picked up by the Yemeni navy after the ship was sunk. It quoted a highly placed source as saying the man, who had suffered wounds in the attack, was now in a markedly improved condition. Maritime security sources had earlier reported that 10 mariners -- eight crew members and two security guards - had been rescued and taken to Saudi Arabia. The sources said all the crew were Filipino, except for one Russian. The sources said the Iran-aligned Houthis had sunk the Liberia-flagged Eternity C, with 22 crew and three armed guards on board, after attacking the vessel with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades over two consecutive days. The remaining 15 people who were on board were considered missing and a privately run search to find them has been called off. The Houthis have attacked more than 100 ships since November 2023 in what they say is an act of solidarity with the Palestinians over the Gaza war. REUTERS
Memri
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Memri
Saudi Writers: Confronting The Houthi Threat To Global Trade, Security And Stability Requires A Coordinated International Effort
On July 16, 2025, the U.S. military reported that forces of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government had seized 750 tons of Iranian-supplied missiles and weaponry bound for Houthi rebels.[1] This report came several days after the Houthis renewed their attacks on vessels passing through the Red Sea: on July 6, 2025 they fired missiles and drones at the Greek-operated and Liberia-flagged ship Magic Seas, and on the following day they attacked another Liberia-flagged vessel, the Eternity C, killing several of its crew.[2] Against this backdrop, several articles in the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat stressed that the Houthis have become a threat to the security and stability of the region and the entire world that requires international action. Noting that confronting this threat is a pressing need that must not be ignored, the writers urged the international community to unite and form a coalition to protect the shipping lanes and sever the Houthis' weapon supply routes. They also called to support the legitimate Yemeni government and help it reestablish its sovereignty throughout Yemen's territory. The vessel Magic Seas under Houthi attack in the Red Sea (Image: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, July 10, 2025) The following are translated excerpts from these articles: Al-Arabiya Deputy Director-General: The Houthi Missiles And Rockets Are A Global Threat That Requires Coordinated International Action In a July 10, 2025 column titled "Weapons that Threaten International Security," Zaid Bin Kami, deputy director-general of the Saudi Al-Arabiya network and formerly the deputy editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, warned that the Houthi efforts to manufacture missiles and drones in the territories under their control are turning Yemen into a global threat, which requires a coordinated international response. He wrote: "Last week, the information minister in [the internationally-recognized] government of Yemen, Mo'ammar Al-Eryani, warned that the Houthis are embarking on plans to manufacture ballistic missiles and drones in the territories under their control, particularly in the cities of Saada and Hajjah and in the suburbs of Sanaa. He stressed that the situation has gone beyond the smuggling phase, to a phase [characterized by] the organized transfer of advanced military capabilities to an area that is outside any legitimate oversight and [whose rulers] do not recognize the concept of the nation state. "The transition from using weapons to manufacturing them in areas that are beyond the control [of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government] not only threatens Yemen but pushes regional and global security to the brink of danger. Yemen's geographical location, on the Bab Al-Mandab Strait and the Arabian Sea [part of the northern Indian Ocean], make it a vital corridor for global trade. [Thus,] any tension or escalation in this area is likely to destabilize international shipping and the global supply chain… "The duty of the legitimate Yemeni government is not only to express concern but to strengthen its political presence and deal with this danger, even if it must request international support in order to take control of the situation. Moreover, a way must be found to bring the Houthis back to the negotiation table, so as to find a solution to the entire crisis. Leaving these kinds of weapons in an area that is not under the control of the [internationally-recognized] government will transform Yemen from an arena of internal conflict into a source of global danger. "Dealing with the drones and ballistic missiles that are outside the control of states has become a pressing need that requires coordinated international action. When weapons are manufactured in secret, tested at sea and launched beyond borders, talk of local security becomes meaningless, because the threat becomes global…"[3] Saudi Journalist: There Is Need To Form An International Coalition Against The Houthis, Help The Yemeni Government Restore Its Sovereignty In his July 14 column in the Al-Sharq Al-Awsat daily, Saudi journalist Ibrahim Al-Uthaymin called to confront the Houthi threat by forming an international coalition that will protect the shipping lanes and sever the Houthi's weapons supply, and also by restoring the full sovereignty of the internationally-recognized Yemeni government. He wrote: 'U.S. Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan, regarded as one of the most prominent thinkers of the theory of sea power in the 19th century, is quoted as saying: 'There can be no security at sea while the land is burning.' This is true for the current reality in the Red Sea, now that the escalation has begun again. The relative calm there did not last long, [and ended] last week when the Houthis claimed two separate attacks on merchant vessels: [the attack] on the Magic Seas cargo ship and two days later [sic] the attack on the ship Eternity C, which caused it to sink off the Yemeni coast. The [Houthi] organization thus renewed its attacks on the security of the region and on the stability of international shipping. 'These attacks reignited the debate about the danger of leaving the Yemeni crises unresolved and [without] a comprehensive political settlement, and [the danger of] leaving the Houthis in control of parts of the [Yemeni] coast, which poses an ongoing threat to shipping security and to international trade… The ongoing unrest in the region affects not only the regional countries but the economy of the entire world. 'To deal with this growing threat, we need a two-pronged approach, or two simultaneous moves. The first is urgent [and involves]… forming an international coalition under the UN, tasked with protecting the shipping lanes and severing the Houthis' weapons supply routes. The second move involves addressing the roots of the Yemeni crisis itself, for the security of international shipping, as well as regional and global stability, cannot be achieved on a permanent basis unless the Yemeni state regains full sovereignty over the coast and over the rest of its territory and unless the illegal situation imposed by the Houthis comes to an end… This requires extending tangible support to the Yemeni government, so as to enable it to extend its sovereignty over all of Yemen's territory – in accordance with UN Resolution 2216 – and strengthen its capabilities and effectiveness. This will begin with the Houthis withdrawing from the territories they overtook, first and foremost the capital Sanaa, and surrendering their heavy weapons, and with the [Yemeni] state institutions resuming their sovereign functions…'[4] Saudi Journalist: The Houthis Threat To The Global Trade Routes Is A Wound That Must Be Treated In his July 11 column in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Saudi journalist Mishari Al-Dhaidi wrote about the Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping and their implications for the economy of Egypt and the world, and called to treat the wound instead of just "numbing' it. He wrote: "In the past 24 hours, the Yemeni Houthi militias have attacked two ships in the Red Sea with missiles and gunfire: the Magic Seas and the Eternity C. As a result of these attacks, four crew from the two merchant vessels were killed and others were wounded. The U.S. embassy in Yemen [also] accused the Houthis of kidnapping crewmembers from the Greek vessel Eternity C, which sank in the Red Sea after it was attacked… In May [2025] a ceasefire agreement [between the Houthis and] the U.S. was reached, with Omani mediation, in order to ensure the [free] movement of vessels in the Red Sea. Today we see that this agreement was just a temporary 'lull'… "In any case, the ongoing Houthi piracy in the Red Sea constitutes a threat to the entire world, especially to the countries the shores of this sea, and more precisely to Egypt and the Suez Canal. A while ago, it was stated that, according to reports by the Egyptian government, the loss of Suez Canal [revenue] as a result of the Houthi piracy came to seven billion dollars last year [2024]. In mid-May [2025], the Suez Canal Authority decided to grant incentives and a 15% discount on transit fees for (empty or full) container ships with a net capacity of 130,000 tons or more, for 90 days, in order to encourage traffic and in an attempt to deal with some of the damage caused by the Houthis... This is [just] numbing the wound, rather than treating it, and if this situation continues we will face a decisive moment on the regional and international levels that the entire world will have to deal with. "There is no practical alternative to the Bab Al-Mandab Strait and the Suez Canal. In the long term, even taking the route through the Cape of Good Hope… will not help the trade traffic to Europe, due to the high cargo fees and the length of the journey. "Are the Houthis preparing 'an impending explosion,' as Yemeni Information Minister Mo'ammar Al-Eryani claimed in an interview with All the facts suggest that they are. However, sabotaging commercial traffic in the Red Sea is not only a local-regional issue, but is a blow to the global trade routes, which are the life-blood [of this trade]."[6]
