The search for sailors missing after Yemen’s Houthis sank a ship in the Red Sea has ended, the private security firms involved said on Monday.
At least four people are presumed dead and 11 remain unaccounted for.
The announcement came as satellite images showed oil slicks from where the bulk carrier Eternity C sank as well as another where the cargo carrier Magic Seas went down.
The Yemeni sank the two ships over a week ago as part of their campaign targeting vessels in protest against Israel’s war on Gaza. The attacks have upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which $1 trillion of goods usually passes a year.
Private security firms Ambrey and Diaplous Group conducted the search for those missing from the Eternity C, which had a three-man security team aboard but requested no escort from either the US navy or an EU force in the region. The ship came under attack on July 7 and faced hours of assaults by small arms and drones before ultimately sinking in the Red Sea.
The initial attack on the Eternity C came a day after the attack on the Magic Seas. Both vessels were Liberian flagged and Greek owned.
Ten people were recovered alive after the attack, including eight Filipino crew members and a Greek and Indian from the vessel’s security team, the EU’s Operation Aspides said. At least four people were presumed dead, leaving 11 missing, the mission added.
The Houthis, who rule most of Yemen, claimed to have taken some mariners after the attack but offered no evidence. The American embassy in Yemen said it believed the Houthis had “kidnapped” some of the crew.
“The decision to end the search has been taken by the vessel’s owner reluctantly but it believes that, in all the circumstances, the priority must now be to get the 10 souls safely recovered alive ashore and to provide them with the urgent medical support they need at this difficult time,” a statement by the security firms said. “The thoughts of all those involved in the rescue operation are with the families of those who remain missing.”
The targeting of the vessels raises concerns about damage to the environment in the Red Sea, home to corals and wildlife that draw divers, tourists and scientists.
Satellite photos from Planet Labs PBC analysed on Monday by the Associated Press showed large, spreading oil slicks where the vessels sank in the southern Red Sea.
Wim Zwijnenburg, an analyst with Dutch peace organisation PAX, estimated the length of the slick from the Eternity C at some 80km and from the Magic Seas at 65km. He warned they could threaten wildlife reserves in nearby Eritrea in Africa and elsewhere.
The oil came from the ship’s tanks and had been used for their own propulsion.
Other shipping disasters have seen much of the slicks evaporate on their own, though they have caused damage to the environment.
Between November 2023 and December 2024, the Houthis targeted more than 100 ships allegedly linked to Israel and its western backers with missiles and drones. They suspended the campaign after a ceasefire was reached in Gaza earlier this year, but resumed their attacks when Israel broke the truce and renewed its assault on the beseiged Palestinian territory.
In their campaign so far, they have sunk four vessels and killed at least eight mariners.
After they refused to stop their attacks on shipping linked to Israel, the Yemeni became the target of an intense weekslong campaign of airstrikes ordered by US president Donald Trump before he declared a ceasefire had been reached.
