The 10 mariners who were rescued following a multiple attack by Yemen’s Houthis on the bulk carrier Eternity C (IMO 9588249) have been taken to Saudi Arabia. Six of the 25 people on board – 22 crew and three security guards – are believed to have been taken hostage by the Houthis. The remaining nine are now either confirmed as dead or missing presumed dead after on Sunday July 13th the rescue mission searching for survivors was ended.
That mission had begun on July 9th after the Eternity C was attacked by Houthis for the second time, with the aim of sinking it.
Neil Roberts, Head of Marine and Aviation at Lloyd’s Market Association, said on LinkedIn that in its resumption of a campaign of violence against shipping, the Houthis’ attacks “were marked by a deliberate and co-ordinated intent to sink, rather than simply damage vessels”.
Of the 10 rescued, eight were crew members and two were security guards. Maritime risk management firm Diaplous and UK-based security firm Ambrey said in a joint statement that the vessel’s owner had decided to end the privately-run search for the remaining 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,” they said.
The ship carrying the 10 rescued crew had arrived in Jizan, Saudi Arabia, according to an official at Diaplous.
The ship’s Greece-based manager Cosmoship said that the remaining 15 people who were on board were considered missing. Of these, five were thought to have died before the vessel sank, four were now considered lost at sea, and six (all from the Philippines) were being held by the Houthis, who said last week that they picked up some of the crew after the vessel went down. Cosmoship said that it was trying to verify this claim.
The Eternity C was the second of two ships sunk by the Houthis within a few days of each other – and the fourth since the current dispute in the Red Sea began.
The crew of the other ship, the Magic Seas(IMO 9736169), were rescued by a passing ship.
The EU’s naval mission Aspides, which protects shipping in the Red Sea, has said that it had no naval assets in the area at the time of the attacks. No international naval force was present in the area, a known hot-spot for Houthi attacks. The nine dead include seven Filipinos, one Russian national and one Indian security guard.
The government of the UK has called for the immediate and unconditional release of the crewmembers taken by Houthi forces. The UK said that the crewmembers had no connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Houthi communications centre confirmed that several crewmembers were pulled from the water by the attackers. It claimed that the survivors were provided with medical care and were then taken to a “safe location”. The group did not provide a timeline for either their release or their repatriation to the Philippines.
The environmental impact of these sinkings is still being assessed. Satellite imaging obtained over the weekend shows oil slicks extending from the wreck sites of the Magic Seas and Eternity C.
Neil Roberts added that “no owner wants to lose a ship simply plying its chartered trade, so these attacks are likely to ensure that any owners contemplating a return to the Red Sea, particularly those with Israeli connections, will continue to avoid it for the foreseeable future”.
Roberts also pointed out that the biggest losers from the Houthi campaign were far from the intended target – Israel. “By effectively halving transits in the Red Sea, the Houthis have also had a serious detrimental impact on the Egyptian economy as last year, income from the Suez Canal dropped from $10.25bn to under $4bn according to AP”, said Roberts, adding that “the freedom of navigation is a fragile compact. If it cannot be upheld, the consequences will be far reaching”.
2012-built, Liberia-flagged, 22,683 gt Eternity C is owned by Guildford Navigation SA care of manager Cosmoship Management SA of Piraeus, Greece. It is entered with London Club on behalf of Guildford Navigation.
2016-built, Liberia-flagged, 35,812 gt Magic Seas is owned by Optimal International Shipping care of manager Allseas Marine SA of Athens, Greece. ISM manager is Stem Shipping Co SA. It is entered with The Swedish Club on behalf of Optimal International Shipping Co.