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Yemen’s Houthis on Monday stated that they have 10 seafarers whom they rescued from the Greek-operated cargo ship Eternity C.
The Liberia-flagged vessel was attacked by the group, after which it sank in the Red Sea.
It is the second ship which sank off Yemen this month after continuous attacks by Houthis with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades.
Another Greek-operated ship, the Magic Seas, had also gone down.
The government of the Philippines confirmed that 9 of the seafarers were Filipinos.
Migrant Worker Minister Hans Cacdac stated that they were in good condition based on accounts from their families, and the government was working to get them released safely.
The Houthis targeting the two ships marks a revival of attacks on shipping by the Group, which has targeted over 100 ships from November 2023 to December 2024, to show solidarity with Palestinians.
The Eternity C crew members and the 3 armed guards were made to abandon the ship after it was targeted.
10 people were saved while 5 are feared to have died in the attacks.
Additionally, 10 more seafarers are believed to be held by the Houthi Group.
On Monday, Houthis released a 6-minute video which showed the captive seafarers contacting their family members.
Experts are calling the video ‘ scripted propaganda’ as seafarers can be seen thanking the Houthis for ‘treating them well’ and apologising to Palestine while clearly in duress.
It also showed testimonies that the crew members did not know of the maritime ban by Houthis against ships headed to Israel.
The crew members said that the ship was heading to Israel’s Eilat Port for loading fertilisers.
However, the vessel’s operator, Cosmoship Management, said that the ship had delivered cargo for the UN World Food Program to Berbera, Somalia and was sailing in ballast to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to get fuel when it was attacked.
Houthis said this is their phase 4 of military operations, wherein now they would attack any ships belonging to companies which do business with Israeli ports, irrespective of nationalities.