Factbox-Houthi attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea

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(Reuters) -Yemen’s Houthis sank two cargo ships in the Red Sea this week, the first flare-up in seven months in the Iran-backed group’s years-long campaign to choke global shipping in protest over the war in Gaza and the plight of the Palestinians.

Since November 2023, the Houthis have targeted more than 100 merchant ships travelling through the Red Sea, sinking four vessels, seizing another and killing at least eight sailors.

Here are details on some of the attacks:

* The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned Eternity C sank on July 9, 2025, after sustaining two days of drone andmissile fire. Four sailors were killed in the attacks, accordingto maritime officials, with 10 rescued and another 11 missing.The U.S. Mission in Yemen accused the Houthis of kidnapping manyof the missing crew members, whose fate remains unknown. * Another Liberian-flagged, Greek-operated bulker, theMagic Seas, sank on July 6, 2025, after sustaining damage from gunfire,missiles, drones and four remote-controlled explosive boats. Theentire crew was evacuated to Djibouti aboard a passing merchantvessel. The Houthis’ media arm soon after released a video ofthe strikes and subsequent storming of the ship by armedmilitants. * The Greek-registered tanker Sounion, carrying 150,000metric tons of crude oil, was struck by several missiles anddrones and caught fire on August 21, 2024, triggering fears ofan oil spill that could cause catastrophic environmental damage.It took months for the vessel to be declared safe and the cargoremoved. * The Greek-owned coal carrier Tutor sank in June 2024,days after it was struck with missiles and an explosive-ladenremote-controlled boat by Houthis near the Yemeni port ofHodeidah. One crew member, believed to have been working in theTutor’s engine room, was never found. The rest were evacuated bymilitary authorities and repatriated. * In March 2024, a Houthi missile attack killed threeseafarers on the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship TrueConfidence, in the first fatalities reported. The attack set theship ablaze around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen’sport of Aden. * The British-owned Rubymar was struck with multiplemissiles in February 2024. It sank on March 2, becoming thefirst ship struck by the Houthis to do so. * The Greek-owned vessel Zografia was sailing from Vietnamto Israel with 24 crew on board and was empty of cargo whenattacked off the Yemeni port of Saleef in January 2024. Theattack caused a large hole below the waterline. * Houthi commandos seized the crew and Bahamas-flagged carcarrier Galaxy Leader in international waters in November 2023.The militia only freed its 25 crew members in January 2025, morethan a year after they were captured.

(Reporting by Jonathan Saul, Renee Maltezou, and Luke Tyson; Editing by Gareth Jones)