The Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthis have issued stern warnings to vessels defying their Red Sea blockade against Israel, confirming in a video Monday that they were holding several crew members of a cargo ship hostage.

The crew of the Eternity C, one of two commercial vessels sank earlier in July, included mainly Filipinos, according to the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (DMW), which said 16 were missing after the attack and called for the immediate release of the “kidnapped” seafarers.

Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Embassy in Yemen and the Philippines’ Foreign Ministry for comment.

Why It Matters

The attack on the Eternity C, in the same week the Houthis attacked the Magic Seas, signaled a show of force by the Iran-backed militant group, which is disrupting a key global trade route despite a heavy campaign of U.S. airstrikes in March ordered by President Donald Trump.

Trump said the group would be “annihilated” and promised to restore freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. The U.S. is also imposing sanctions aimed at curbing Iran’s proxy influence in the region.

A renewed blockade of the narrow Bab el-Mandeb Strait by the Houthis may once again threaten international shipping in general and U.S. economic interests in particular, forcing Trump’s hand in the long-restive region.

What To Know

In the six-minute video released by the Houthis, a distorted voice asked a crew member if he knew the ship was headed to Israel. The crew responded that they were assigned to load fertilizer there for delivery to China.

Marc Jayson, the ship’s third officer, said the captain had informed the crew they were headed to the Israeli port of Eilat from Somalia. “We asked if there was any bonus for sailing to a high-risk area,” he said, adding they received no further details before the attack.

Another crew member said the captain had ordered all satellite communications turned off as the ship approached Eilat—a claim the Houthis used to justify their attack against all commercial vessels stopping at Israeli ports. .

Filipino Migrant Workers Secretary Hans Leo Cacdac said an initial investigation found the ship had violated maritime safety protocols by crossing the Red Sea twice—via Egypt, Somalia, and Jeddah—despite a DMW ban on Filipino seafarers boarding vessels transiting the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to the official Philippine News Agency on July 10.

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