By JON GAMBRELL, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea killed three mariners and wounded two others, a European Union naval force said Tuesday, highlighting the danger of the group’s renewed campaign targeting a key maritime route for international trade.

The attack on the Greek-owned Eternity C follows the Iranian-backed Houthis attacking another vessel on Sunday in the Red Sea that they said subsequently sank. The assaults are the first Houthi attacks on shipping since late 2024 on the waterway that had begun to see more ships pass through in recent weeks.

“We haven’t seen any real attacks on merchant shipping since December last year,” said Wolf-Christian Paes, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “And they’re back with a bang.”

Crew remains stuck on drifting vessel

The bulk carrier had been heading north toward the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and by bomb-carrying drones Monday night. The security guards on board fired their weapons. The EU Operation Aspides and the private security firm Ambrey both reported those details.

While the Houthis haven’t claimed the attack — they can take days to claim one — Yemen’s exiled government and the EU force blamed the rebels, as did the U.S. Embassy in Yemen.

“The Houthis are once again showing blatant disregard for human life, undermining freedom of navigation in the Red Sea,” said the embassy, which has operated out of Saudi Arabia for nearly a decade due to Yemen ‘s wider war. “The intentional murder of innocent mariners shows us all the Houthis’ true colors and will only further the Houthis’ isolation.”

The EU force offered the casualty information, saying one of the wounded crew lost his leg. The crew remains stuck on board the vessel, which is now drifting in the Red Sea.

Magic Seas crew abandoned the vessel

The Houthis on Sunday attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas with drones, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, forcing its crew of 22 to abandon the vessel. The rebels later said it sank with its cargo of fertilizer and steel billets for Turkey.

“It is the first such attack against a commercial vessel in 2025, a serious escalation endangering maritime security in a vital waterway for the region and the world,” the EU warned. “These attacks directly threaten regional peace and stability, global commerce and freedom of navigation as a global public good. They can negatively impact the already dire humanitarian situation in Yemen.”

The Philippines said 17 Filipinos were aboard the Magic Seas and another 21 on the Eternity C.

The two attacks, and a round of Israeli airstrikes early Monday targeting the rebels, raised fears of a renewed Houthi campaign against shipping that could again draw in U.S. and Western forces, particularly after U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration targeted the rebels in a major airstrike campaign.

The attacks come at a sensitive moment in the Middle East, as a possible ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war hangs in the balance, and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following U.S. airstrikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites during the Israel-Iran war in June.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in Washington meeting Trump as Gaza ceasefire discussions continue. The Houthis apparently targeted the two vessels over their companies running routes to Israel.

“If I were to venture, I guess it has to do with Netanyahu being in Washington and with the fact that, of, course, Iran and its network of allies has been taking a bit of a beating in the last couple of months,” Paes said.

Houthi attacks linked to Israel-Hamas war

The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the group’s leadership has described as an effort to end Israel’s offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two and killing four sailors. Their campaign has greatly reduced the flow of trade through the Red Sea corridor, which typically sees $1 trillion of goods move through it annually.

The last Houthi attack, targeting U.S. warships escorting commercial ships, happened in early December. A ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war began in January and held until March. The U.S. then launched a broad assault against the rebels that ended weeks later when Trump said the rebels pledged to stop attacking ships.

Since then, the Houthis have continued occasional missile attacks targeting Israel. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, had increased in recent weeks.

“The Houthi attack on the Magic Seas tarnishes the U.S. claims that Operation Rough Rider had brought calm to the Red Sea and paved the way for a return to prior levels of commercial traffic through the waterway,” the New York-based Soufan Center think tank said Tuesday.

However, “the U.S. seems more likely to stand down unless the Magic Seas attack evolves into a broader and sustained Houthi campaign.”