Ten mariners rescued after a Greek-owned ship was sunk by Yemen’s Houthis last week have arrived in Saudi Arabia, according to maritime security sources, after rescuers concluded their search for the remaining crew.
The rescue mission began on Wednesday when the Iran-aligned group sank the Liberia-flagged Eternity C cargo ship, with 22 crew and three armed guards on board, after attacking the vessel with sea drones and rocket-propelled grenades over two consecutive days.
Eight crew members and two security guards were rescued. All of the crew were Filipinos, except for one Russian.
On Sunday, marine risk management company Diaplous and British security firm Ambrey said in a joint statement that the ship’s owner had decided to end the private search for the remaining crew.
“The decision to end the search has been taken by the vessel’s owner reluctantly, but it believes that, in all the circumstances, the priority must now be to get the 10 souls safely recovered alive ashore,” they said.
The ship carrying the rescued crew has arrived in Jizan, a Diaplous official said.
The remaining 15 people who were on board are considered missing, according to the vessel’s Greece-based manager, Cosmoship. Five of them are believed to have died before the vessel sank, according to maritime security sources.
The Houthis said last week that they picked up some of the crew after the vessel went down. Cosmoship said that it was trying to verify the claim.
