The Iran-backed Houthis have restarted their Red Sea attacks after months of relative calm, with two fresh assaults that sank a commercial vessel and killed several crew members on another ship.
Operation Aspides, the European Union’s defensive counter-Houthi mission, blamed the rebels for an attack on Monday against the Eternity C, a Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned cargo vessel. It marks a major escalation that could reignite the Red Sea conflict.
An Aspides official told Business Insider that four speedboats carrying armed personnel approached the vessel and fired on it with rocket-propelled grenades. They said the Houthis also used uncrewed aerial vehicles, or drones, against the Eternity.
The attack killed three crew members and injured at least two others, and left the Eternity adrift in the Red Sea, the official said Tuesday. It marked the Houthis’ first deadly assault on shipping this year. Several civilians were killed in 2024 attacks.
The Houthis have not yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but the US Embassy in Yemen, which operates out of Saudi Arabia due to security concerns, called it the rebels’ “most violent attack to date” and said they are “once again showing blatant disregard for human life.”
Publicly available tracking data showed the Greek-owned Eternity C off the coast of Yemen as of Monday.
The attack on the Eternity C came a day after a separate attack on the Magic Seas, another Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned cargo vessel.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, the UKMTO, reported an attack against a vessel on Sunday by small boats that opened fire with small arms and RPGs. A Houthi spokesperson later said the rebels used missiles and drones in their assault on the Magic Seas, scored a direct hit, and sank it.
The European Union said the attack “endangered the lives of the crew, who had to be evacuated, and risked a major ecological disaster in the region, as the vessel is currently drifting and at risk of sinking.”
“It is the first such attack against a commercial vessel in 2025,” the EU said in a statement on the situation, calling it “a serious escalation endangering maritime security in a vital waterway for the region and the world.”
On Tuesday, the Houthis published footage showing them appearing to detonate explosives onboard the abandoned Magic Seas, which took on water and slipped under the water. It’s the third ship that the rebels have sunk.
The dual attacks using small boats and small arms reflect notably different tactics for the Houthis compared to their traditional operations. Between October 2023 and December 2024, the rebels routinely used drones and missiles to attack civilian and military ships in the Red Sea and the adjacent Gulf of Aden.
The US and NATO deployed warships to the region to defend the vital maritime routes from the Houthi attacks, which the rebels have stated are in response to Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas. Aspides said the Eternity did not request any escort or protection ahead of the ill-fated Red Sea transit.
The Houthis were relatively quiet during the first half of the year. In March, the US military began a weekslong bombing campaign against the Iran-backed rebels in Yemen, and American forces struck over 1,000 targets in a matter of weeks. The Trump administration reached a ceasefire with the Houthis in May, bringing an end to what was called Operation Rough Rider.
However, the agreement only prevented the Houthis from attacking US ships. The rebels have continued to fire long-range drones and missiles at Israel in recent weeks. Israel’s military retaliated on Sunday with airstrikes against Houthi infrastructure across Yemen.
The Houthis’ ability to continue attacks against Israel and the latest Red Sea operations suggest that the group still retains some military capabilities, despite the intense US bombing campaign. Renewed tensions could risk drawing US naval forces — which have expended hundreds of missiles and bombs fighting the rebels — back into the conflict.
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