ATHENS: Two seafarers on the Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C were killed in a drone and speedboat attack off Yemen, Liberia’s shipping delegation told a UN meeting on Tuesday (Jul 8), the second incident in a day after months of calm.
The Red Sea, which passes Yemen’s coast, has long been a critical waterway for the world’s oil and commodities but traffic has dropped since the Iran-aligned Houthi militia began targeting ships in November 2023 in what they said was solidarity with Palestinians against Israel in the Gaza war.
The deaths on the Eternity C, the first involving shipping in the Red Sea since June 2024, bring the total number of seafarers killed in attacks on vessels plying the Red Sea to six.
Hours before the latest attack, the Houthis had claimed responsibility for a strike on another Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier, the MV Magic Seas, off southwest Yemen on Sunday, saying the vessel sank. The vessel’s manager said the information about the sinking could not be verified.
All crew on the Magic Seas were rescued by a passing merchant vessel and arrived safely in Djibouti on Monday, Djibouti authorities said.
The Houthis have not commented on the Eternity C.
“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 the death of two seafarers,” Liberia’s delegation told a session of the United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, held in London this week.
