The owner of the bulker Eternity C has called off the search for the remaining missing crew members, maritime security advisory firms Ambrey and Diaplous Group said on Sunday.
The Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated Eternity C sank on Wednesday morning after it was attacked by Houthi rebels off the coast of Yemen.
Ten of the vessel’s 22 crew – which included 21 Filipinos and one Russian – as well as three armed security guards, were rescued. The remaining 15 are considered missing, five of whom are believed to be dead. The Houthis claimed that they had rescued some of the crew.
“At the owner's request, Diaplous and Ambrey have had to end their search for the remaining crew of the Eternity C. The decision to end the search has been taken by the vessel's owner reluctantly.”
However, Diaplous said 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.
Eternity C was transiting about 50 nautical miles southwest of Hodeidah when rebels in several small boats launched an attack on the vessel, which was struck by multiple missile strikes over two days, disabling its engine and causing it to flood.
The Houthis have also claimed responsibility for an earlier attack last Sunday targeting another Greek-operated ship, the Magic Seas. All crew were rescued before the vessel sank.
The strikes on the two ships mark the restart of the Iran-aligned Houthi attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea region in a move to show their solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.
The group has attacked more than 100 ships between November 2023 and December 2024.
