ATHENS (Reuters) -The Greece-based supervisor of a vessel that sank after being attacked by Houthi militants off Yemen earlier this month expressed aid on Tuesday after seeing a video displaying 11 lacking crew members alive.
The six-minute video was launched by the Iran-aligned Houthis, who mentioned on Monday that they had rescued the seafarers from the Liberia-flagged Eternity C cargo ship.
In a press release, the Athens-based ship administration firm mentioned efforts had been persevering with to make sure the sailors’ “secure and swift return dwelling to their households”.
“Cosmoship Administration is deeply relieved to see in video footage launched by the Houthis on … 28 July that ten of our lacking crew members, in addition to one of many vessel’s safety guards (11 in whole), are alive and look like receiving care,” it mentioned.
The Philippine authorities confirmed on Tuesday that 9 of the rescued seafarers had been Filipinos.
Migrant staff minister Hans Cacdac mentioned the sailors had been in “good bodily situation” primarily based on accounts from their households, and that the federal government was working to safe their launch and secure return.
Cosmoship added that it hoped the Houthis “will launch our crew on the earliest alternative”.
The Eternity C was the second ship to sink off Yemen this month after repeated assaults by Houthi militants with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades. One other Greek-operated vessel, the Magic Seas, had gone down days earlier.
The strikes on the 2 vessels marked a revival of assaults on delivery by the Houthis, who hit greater than 100 ships between November 2023 and December 2024 in what they mentioned was a present of solidarity with the Palestinians within the struggle in Gaza.
Eternity C’s crew and three armed guards had been compelled to desert the ship following the assaults. Ten of them had been rescued by a privately led mission, whereas 5 extra are feared useless.
On Monday, the Houthis launched a six-minute video displaying footage of the lacking seafarers, with a few of them apparently speaking to relations by cellphone.
In addition they confirmed testimonies saying that the crew members weren’t conscious of a maritime ban by Houthis in opposition to vessels crusing to Israeli ports. They mentioned the vessel was heading to Israel’s Eilat Port to load fertilizers.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm the footage.
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou and Jonathan Saul;Modifying by Helen Popper)