Rescuers search for survivors after Houthi attack on cargo ship in the Red Sea

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Rescuers launched a search Wednesday for survivors of a Liberian-flagged cargo ship that came under attack from Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, authorities said. At least three mariners were killed and two were wounded.

The attack on the Greek-owned Eternity C follows the Iranian-backed Houthis attacking another vessel, the bulk carrier Magic Seas, on Sunday in the Red Sea, which they subsequently sank. Fears grew Wednesday that the Eternity C may have sunk as well as the search for survivors continued.

The assaults are the first Houthi attacks on shipping since late 2024 in the waterway that had begun to see more ships pass through in recent weeks.

A search for survivors is ongoing

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, run by the British military, said in an advisory that ''search and rescue operations commenced overnight'' for those who had been aboard the Eternity C. Five crew members so far had been rescued, the UKMTO said.

The advisory did not discuss the ship's status, though it had sustained ''significant damage'' and had lost all propulsion.

The bulk carrier had been heading north toward the Suez Canal when it came under fire by men in small boats and bomb-carrying drones Monday night. The security guards on board fired their weapons. The European Union's 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 do so— Yemen's exiled government and the EU force blamed the rebels, as did the U.S. State Department.

''These attacks demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security,'' State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said. ''The United States has been clear: We will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping from Houthi terrorist attacks.''

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

Satellite photos show damage from an Israeli strike

Satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press showed new damage at Yemen's rebel-controlled port at Hodeida after it was targeted by Israeli airstrikes over the weekend. The images from Planet Labs PBC showed new portions of the pier at the port torn away by Israeli bombing, likely to affect the unloading of cargo there.

In conducting the strikes, Israel said the Houthis used the port to smuggle military equipment into the country, a growing worry of analysts and Yemen watchers in recent years. Hodeida is the main entry point for food and other humanitarian aid for millions of Yemenis.

Jamal Amer, a Houthi official, reportedly said Wednesday that shipments continue to arrive ''smoothly'' to Hodeida. In comments published by the Houthis' al-Masirah satellite channel, Amer also said that damage at the port ''directly affects civilians and is a disgrace to the United Nations, which is complicit in these crimes through its suspicious silence."

Yemen's war began when the Houthis seized Sanaa in 2014. A Saudi-led coalition backing Yemen's exiled government considered trying to retake Hodeida by force in 2018, but ultimately decided against it as international criticism and worries about the port being destroyed grew.