At least two crew members were wounded and two were missing following an attack by Houthi militants on a Greek-managed cargo ship off Yemen on Monday, hours after the Iran-aligned group said an earlier assault had sunk another bulk carrier in the Red Sea, APA reports citing Reuters.
Monday's attack 50 nautical miles southwest of the port of Hodeidah was the second strike against merchant vessels in the vital shipping corridor since November 2024, said an official at the European Union´s Operation Aspides, assigned to help protect Red Sea shipping.
The Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C with 22 crew members - 21 Filipinos and one Russian - and armed guards on board, was attacked with sea drones and rocket-propelledgrenades fired from manned speedboats, sources said.
At least two crew members were seriously injured, its manager, Cosmoship Management, told Reuters. The vessel's bridge was hit and telecommunications were impacted, a company official said.
Maritime security sources said the vessel, which was unladen, has suffered severe damage and is currently listing. The crew was ordered to abandon the ship, but the lifeboats had been destroyed, two sources said.
The ship was adrift, an Aspides official said. At the time of the incident, no warship of the Aspides mission was close to the vessel.
There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, so far.
Earlier on Monday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for Sunday's attack on the Greek-operated MV Magic Seas bulk carrier off southwest Yemen. The raid involved gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades from eight skiffs as well as missiles and four uncrewed surface vessels.
The 19 crew were forced to abandon the Liberian-flagged vessel as it was taking on water. They were picked up by a passing ship and have arrived safely in Djibouti, sources said.
The Houthis said they sunk the vessel. But Michael Bodouroglou, a representative of Stem Shipping, one of the ship's commercial managers, said there was no independent verification.
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