The search for those missing after Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels sank a ship in the Red Sea has ended with at least four people presumed dead and 11 others unaccounted for, the private security firms involved said Monday.
The announcement came as satellite photos show long, trailing oil slicks from where the bulk carrier Eternity C went down, and another where the Houthis sank the bulk carrier Magic Seas.
Both ships were attacked over a week ago by the rebels as part of their campaign targeting vessels over the war in Gaza. The Houthi campaign has upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which $1 trillion of goods usually passes a year.
The private security firms Ambrey and Diaplous Group ran the search for those missing from the Eternity C, which had a three-man security team aboard but requested no escort from either the US Navy or a European Union force in the region. The ship came under attack July 7 and faced hours of Houthi assaults by small arms and bomb-carrying drones before ultimately sinking in the Red Sea.
The initial attack on the Eternity C came a day after the attack on the Magic Seas. Both ships were Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned vessels. The crew of the Magic Seas was rescued before the boat sank.
Ten people were recovered alive from the attack on the Eternity C, including eight Filipino crew members and a Greek and Indian from the vessel’s security team, the EU’s Operation Aspides said. At least four are presumed to have been killed in the attack, leaving 11 others missing, the EU mission has said.
A handout picture released by Yemen’s Houthis on July 8, 2025, reportedly shows a view of damage to the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Eternity C after it was attacked by the Iran-backed rebels at sea. (Ansar Allah Media Center / AFP)
The Houthis claimed to have taken some mariners after the attack, but have offered no evidence of that. The US Embassy in Yemen said it believed the rebels had “kidnapped” some of the crew.
“The decision to end the search has been taken by the vessel’s Owner reluctantly but it believes that, in all the circumstances, the priority must now be to get the 10 souls safely recovered alive ashore and to provide them with the urgent medical support they need at this difficult time,” a statement by the security firms said. “The thoughts of all those involved in the rescue operation are with the families of those who remain missing.”
Oil slicks seen after two vessels sank
The attacks on the vessels also raised concerns about damage to the environment in the Red Sea, home to corals and wildlife that draws divers, tourists and scientists. Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analyzed Monday by The Associated Press show large, spreading oil slicks in the southern Red Sea where the vessels sank.
Wim Zwijnenburg, an analyst with the Dutch peace organization PAX, estimated the length of the slick from the Eternity C at some 80 kilometers (50 miles) and from the Magic Seas at some 65 kilometers (40 miles). He warned it could threatened wildlife reserves in nearby Eritrea in Africa and elsewhere.
There are concerns that the oil spills caused by the Houthi attack and subsequent sinking on the MAGIC SEAS and ETERNITY C is posing a threat to protected nature reserves on #Eritrea‘s coast. The Bera’isole area is host to turtles, mangroves and a unique biodiversity pic.twitter.com/Be4hK39QlK
— Wim Zwijnenburg (@wammezz) July 13, 2025
The oil comes from the ship’s tanks and had been used for their own propulsion. Other shipping disasters have seen much of the slicks evaporate on their own, though they cause damage to the environment, too.
The Houthis — whose slogan calls for “Death to America, Death to Israel, [and] a Curse on the Jews” — began attacking Israel and maritime traffic in November 2023, a month after the October 7 Hamas massacre.
The Houthis held their fire when a ceasefire was reached between Israel and Hamas in January 2025. They later became the target of an intense weekslong campaign of airstrikes ordered by US President Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached with the rebels.
Armed supporters of Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels hold a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel rally in Sanaa, Yemen, May 23, 2025. (Mohammed HUWAIS / AFP)
By that point, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships with missiles and drones. In their campaign so far, the Houthis have sank four vessels and killed at least eight mariners.
The Houthis also fired over 40 ballistic missiles and dozens of attack drones and cruise missiles at Israel, including one that killed a civilian and wounded several others in Tel Aviv in July, prompting Israel’s first strike in Yemen.
Since March 18, when the IDF resumed its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis in Yemen have launched 60 more ballistic missiles and at least 13 drones at Israel. Several of the missiles have fallen short.
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