Houthi Escalation in the Red Sea

"We are now with grave concern seeing an escalation in the Red Sea with attacks on two commercial ships earlier this week by Ansar Allah, resulting in civilian loss of life and casualties as well as the potential for environmental damage."

United Nations special envoy Hans Grundberg

 

"We remain deeply concerned for the welfare of the crew members in the custody of the Houthis, as well as for those currently unaccounted for."

"Their safety and swift release must be a priority for all involved."

Ellie Shafik, head of intelligence, UK-based maritime risk management company Vanguard Tech 

 

"[The US state department condemns the attacks on the Magic Seas and Eternity C, which] demonstrate the ongoing threat that Iran-backed Houthi rebels pose to freedom of navigation and to regional economic and maritime security."

"The United States has been clear: we will continue to take necessary action to protect freedom of navigation and commercial shipping from Houthi terrorist attacks, which must be condemned by all members of the international community."

U.S. State Department

 

"After several months of calm, the resumption of deplorable attacks in the Red Sea constitutes a renewed violation of international law and freedom of navigation." 

"Innocent seafarers and local populations are the main victims of these attacks and the pollution they cause."

Arsenio Dominguez, secretary-general, International Maritime Organization (IMO)  

A crew member being rescued on Wednesday age 48 hours afloat. Photograph: Diaplous/Reuters

 

The Yemeni Houthi terrorist group is back at it again, attacking civil shipping in the Red Sea. Two ships were attacked, some of their crews dying in the attack, others taken prisoner, others still rescued from the water after having spent two days clinging to life-support systems. Liberian-flagged Eternity C cargo ship sank on Wednesday with only six of its 25 crew aboard rescued, according to a European naval force in the Mideast.

 

Three of the crew on the Eternity C were killed, the most serious assault by the Houthis in the maritime trade route to date. A route that once had $1 trillion in cargo pass through every year. Houthis targeted over 100 ships with missiles and drones from November of 2023 to December of 2024 in their campaign of support to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas conflict.

 

During a brief ceasefire in the war, the Houthi terrorists, supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran, halted their attacks. They were earlier targeted by an intense campaign of weeks of airstrikes ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump. The sinking of the bulk carrier Magic Seas in another earlier attack on Sunday, and then the attack on the Eternity C, raises new concerns relating to the ongoing safety of the Red Sea as a shipping route.  

 

Ships had gradually been returning to the Red Sea following the U.S. airstrikes. Today, Israel launched a series of airstrikes against the Yemeni port of Hudaydah in reprisal against the drones and missiles sent by the Houthi forces into Israel. "Due to the terrorist Houthi regime's use of seaports for its terrorist activities, we urge all those present at these ports to evacuate and stay away from them for your own safety until further notice," IDF Arabic spokesperson Avichay Adraee wrote on X.

 

Plumes of smoke rise from what is said to be Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier, the MV Magic Seas. This screen grab is taken from a handout video released on July 8, 2025.

Houthi Media Center/Reuters

 

 According to the European Union naval mission in the Red Sea, the ship's crew was comprised of 22 sailors, among them 21 Filipinos and one Russian, along with a three-member security team. During the hours-long attack on the ship, three people were killed. The ship had been attacked with rocket-propelled grenades and small arms. Two drones and two drone boats carrying bombs to strike the vessel were later used, sinking the Eternity C, on Wednesday.

 

Like the Magic Seas struck several days earlier, the Eternity C had likely been targeted over its owners conducting business with Israel. Neither vessel had requested an escort from the EU force. While the EU force was still searching for those on board with private industry rescuers, a Houthi military spokesman claimed the attack in a pre-recorded message Wednesday night.  

 

The Eternity C sinking after the attack Photograph: Houthi handout/EPA

 

Fake, Really Fake News

"I think we'd hear from Beijing if we had sunk 300 or so Chinese ships."

"These videos are beyond ridiculous."

Martin Shadwick, professor of defence studies, York University, Toronto

 

"In collaboration with our CAF [Canadian Armed Forces] colleagues, the RCN has been tracking disinformation content online this week about our ships operating in specific areas of the world."

"The RCN [Royal Canadian Navy] and CAF have mechanisms in place to ensure we are aware of disinformation about our operations."

Royal Canadian Navy statement

 

"YouTube has removed the videos in question for violating our misinformation policy."

"We enforce our policies consistently using a combination of content reviewers and machine learning to remove content that violates our policies as quickly as possible."

YouTube statement

A Houthi fighter, in this handout video from the Houthi Media Center, seen during the hijacking of the Japanese-operated cargo ship Galaxy Leader on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. (Houthi Media Center/The Associated Press)

Western nations have been consumed with concerns relating to Russian and Chinese disinformation in recent years. Various militaries and spy agencies have spoken alarmingly over such activities while Western militaries and their governments have, on the other hand, manipulated claims of Russian disinformation for their own purposes in efforts of undercutting media reports that seem unfavourable to their missions.

 

A flurry of new videos have been aired on YouTube lately, gaining traction and attention, despite their quite obviously false narratives. These videos have presented as clumsily produced, lacking credibility to those familiar with the subjects in question, to the extent that they convince intelligence agencies that their very lack of professionalism rule out any relationship to the government misinformation activities of either Russia or China.

 

These are fake videos purporting to demonstrate the Canadian navy in the act of destroying hundreds of Chinese vessels. As though that weren't enough, others show Canadian warships attacking Houthi Yemenite rebels in the Red Sea, and they're appearing everywhere on social media. Over 15 videos were recently posted on YouTube portrayed as Royal Canadian Navy military activities in the South China Sea and in the Middle East.

 

Royal Canadian Navy and the American Navy according to one video, recently sank 312 Chinese vessels in a controversial dispute allegedly over illegal fishing. Yet another video in the Red Sea purportedly shows the Canadian frigate HMCS Vancouver "sink[ing] dozens of rebel ships" as its crew is engaged in battle with Houthi terrorists. 

According to those with knowledge of current world events or the Canadian military, the videos are a risible sham, according to a professor of defence studies at York University in Toronto. Old imagery from past Canadian and U.S. military exercises have been used in the videos. No Canadian ships are currently stationed in the South China Sea or the Red Sea, however. HMCS Vancouver is currently in port at Esquimalt, British Columbia.

One video relating to the purported Canadian attack on Houthi pirates has had 527,000 views. Three months ago similar videos of Canada sinking hundreds of Chinese vessels began appear, more having been added recently to YouTube. Those purporting to represent Canadian naval attacks on Houthi rebels are of far more recent vintage. 

 

What agency might be responsible for producing and posting the videos and what the reason might conceivably be, are  unknown. Professor Shadwick, however, fairly well rules out the videos being of Russian or Chinese origin as disinformation, since they are so unsophisticated and readily debunked.

 

A 2022 file photo of HMCS Vancouver. A fake video on social media claims to show the Canadian frigate sinking “dozens of rebel ships” in the Red Sea. In fact, HMCS Vancouver is in port at Esquimalt, B.C. Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1s /AP