At least three crew members were killed when sea drones and speedboats struck a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier off Yemen on Monday evening, officials said.

An attack byYemensHouthi rebelson a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in theRed Seakilled three mariners and wounded two others, a European Union naval force said Tuesday.

The attack on the Greek-owned Eternity C follows the Houthis claiming they attacked and sank another vessel Monday in the Red Sea, a vital maritime trade route. The twin assaults are the first Houthi attacks onshippingsince November 2024 and potentially signal thestart of a new campaignthreatening the waterway, which had begun to see more ships pass through it in recent weeks.

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

While the Houthis havent claimed the attack, Yemens exiled government and the EU force blamed the rebels for the attack, as did the US 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 ofSaudi Arabiafor nearly a decade due to Yemens 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 in the attack. The crew remains stuck on board the vessel, which is now drifting in the Red Sea.

The Houthis separately attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas on Sunday 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 in the Red Sea with its cargo of fertiliser 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. These attacks must stop.

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 US and Western forces, particularly after US President Donald Trumps 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 theIsrael-Hamas warhangs in the balance, and as Iran weighs whether to restart negotiations over its nuclear program following American airstrikes targeting its most sensitive atomic sites during theIsrael-Iran warin June.

The Houthis have been launching missile and drone attacks against commercial and military ships in the region in what the groups leadership has described as an effort to end Israels offensive againstHamasin theGaza Strip.

Between November 2023 and January 2025, the Houthis targeted more than 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two of them 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. Shipping through the Red Sea, while still lower than normal, has increased in recent weeks.

The Houthis paused attacks until the US launched a broad assault against the rebels in mid-March. That ended weeks later and the Houthis hadnt attacked a vessel until this past weekend, though they did continue occasional missile attacks targeting Israel.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)

Originally published on France24