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Middle East
Houthis Sink Two Cargo Ships Off Coast of Yemen
What Happened
Houthi militants sunk a Liberia-flagged cargo vessel, the Eternity C, in the southern Red Sea en route to Somalia last week. The prolonged attack consisted of bombs, sea drones, and rocket-propelled grenades launched from speedboats. Of the 25 people on board, 10 were rescued, three killed, and the rest are presumed kidnapped. The incident comes just days after the sinking of another Liberia-flagged cargo ship, the Magic Seas, whose 19-member crew was later rescued by a passing merchant vessel.
Why It Matters
Red Sea Shipping Crisis Continues. The Houthis appear to be achieving their goal of imposing an economic cost for Israel’s Gaza policy. Shipping traffic through the Red Sea was down 75% from its normal volume at the onset of 2025, and it has become common for the remaining vessels to list their AIS destination as ‘NO ISRAEL-US-EU LINKS’ or ‘ARMED GUARDS ON BOARD’ in an attempt to deter attack. Last week’s sinkings – the first to result in crew deaths this year – demonstrate that the Houthis retain the will and capacity to imperil global supply chains in the Red Sea region.
Limits of US Hard Power. The persistent Houthi threat does not reflect positively on Operation Rough Rider, the months-long US bombing campaign earlier this year. Rough Rider was expensive (over $1 billion spent in the first month alone), tactically dubious in that it exhausted highly sophisticated weapons stockpiles potentially needed elsewhere, and particularly deadly for Yemeni civilians. It’s now evident that it did not achieve its objective of degrading Houthi capabilities to the point of removing the threat they pose to Red Sea shipping. In this light, it’s not surprising that the Trump administration has been quiet in the face of the latest attacks.
A Propaganda Victory. This David-and-Goliath dynamic is not lost on the Houthis, who are leveraging these operations for propaganda purposes. The militant group released a video of the Magic Seas attack, complete with a dramatic soundtrack and drone-filmed commando raids and, ultimately, the sinking of the ship.
