Houthis say they hold 10 crew from Greek-operated ship they sank off Yemen

CAIRO/ATHENS (Reuters) -Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said on Monday they had rescued 10 seafarers from the Greek-operated cargo ship Eternity C which they attacked and sank in the Red Sea earlier this month. 

The Liberia-flagged Eternity C was the second ship to sink off Yemen this month after repeated attacks by Houthi militants with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades. Another Greek-operated vessel, the Magic Seas, had gone down days earlier. 

The strikes on the two vessels marked a revival of attacks on shipping by the Houthis, who have hit more than 100 ships between November 2023 and December 2024 in what they say is a show of solidarity with the Palestinians in the war in Gaza.

The Eternity C crew and three armed guards were forced to abandon the ship following the attacks. Ten people were rescued by a privately led mission, while five more are feared dead mainly due to the attacks. 

Another 10 people were believed to be held by Houthis, maritime security sources had told Reuters.

On Monday, the Houthis group released a six-minute video showing pictures of the 10 seafarers with some of them contacting their families. They also showed testimonies saying that the crew members were not aware of a maritime ban by Houthis against vessels sailing to Israeli ports. They said the vessel was heading to Israel's Eilat Port to load fertilizers.

Reuters could not independently verify the footage. 

In what they called phase four of their military operations, the Houthis said on Sunday they would target any ships belonging to companies that do business with Israeli ports, regardless of their nationalities. 

Following the recent attacks, Greece said it would deploy a salvage vessel in the Red Sea to assist in maritime accidents and protect seafarers and global shipping.

(Reporting by Menna Alaa El Din in Cairo and Renee Maltezou in Athens; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )