Houthi forces attacked and sank two Liberia-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carriers in the southern Red Sea in July 2025, the first fatal attacks on commercial shipping in the area in roughly a year. The Magic Seas was hit on July 6, 2025, and the Eternity C on July 7, 2025, in both cases by a combination of missiles, explosive uncrewed surface craft, and rocket-propelled grenades fired from skiffs, according to reporting by the BBC and statements by the U.S. Department of State. The Eternity C sank on July 9, 2025, with crew members killed and others missing.
What happened to the Magic Seas and the Eternity C?
The Magic Seas came under attack off Hodeidah on July 6, 2025, while transiting the southern Red Sea, per BBC reporting of July 2025. The crew abandoned ship and was rescued; the attackers then sank the vessel. The following day, the Eternity C, a bulk carrier en route from Berbera, Somalia, was struck by sea drones, missiles, and rocket-propelled grenades launched from high-speed skiffs. Of roughly twenty-five people aboard, between ten and fifteen were recovered over several days, some after nearly forty-eight hours adrift, per the same reporting. At least four crew members were killed, and several others were reported missing and believed taken. The ship sank on July 9, 2025.
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Why did the attacks matter for commercial traffic?
The two sinkings ended a lull of roughly a year in fatal attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea, and they demonstrated that the threat to ships transiting the area persisted even after the intensive naval campaign of 2023 through 2024 had reduced the attack tempo. The U.S. Department of State condemned the attacks on both vessels in a statement issued in July 2025, and the U.S. embassy in Yemen described the Eternity C attack as the most violent of its kind to date, per that statement. The Houthis claimed responsibility and said the ships were targeted because of links to companies dealing with Israel, a claim reported by the BBC. For operators deciding whether to route through the Suez corridor or around the Cape of Good Hope, the July 2025 attacks restored the risk premium on the shorter passage, and naval forces of several nations continued to patrol the Bab el-Mandeb approaches through the remainder of 2025.