The British Maritime Security Agency and a security company report an explosion near a ship off the Yemeni coast. Two cargo ships then changed their route.
According to the British Maritime Safety Authority (UKMTO), there was an explosion near a ship off the coast of Yemen. The explosion occurred 50 nautical miles south of the port of Mocha and “approximately 100 meters from the ship,” the authority said. The ship and its crew remained unharmed and are safe. The British security company Ambrey confirmed the information.
US Central Command accused Yemen’s Houthi militia of firing three anti-ship missiles. One crashed into the sea, the other two were intercepted by the missile destroyer USS Gravely.
A Houthi spokesman said the ballistic missile attack targeted US warships escorting the freighters. It resulted in a US warship being hit directly and the two merchant ships being forced to withdraw and turn back.
Shipping company turns ships around
The Danish shipping company Maersk said that two ships from its US subsidiary Maersk Line Limited (MLL) had turned back due to explosions near them while traveling through the Bab al-Mandab Strait. The ships were escorted by the US Navy, which intercepted “multiple missiles,” it said in a statement.
According to Maersk, the freighters fly the US flag and have loaded goods for the US Department of State and Defense. In view of the incident, the US subsidiary wants to suspend all shipping traffic in the region until further notice, it said.
Repeated attacks by Houthi militia
Since mid-November, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis have attacked numerous ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden that they accuse of having ties to Israel. The militia sees itself as part of the self-proclaimed “Axis of Resistance” directed against Israel, of which the radical Islamic Hamas is also a member.
In response to the attacks, the US and Britain attacked Houthi positions in Yemen. According to US information, two anti-ship missiles belonging to the Houthi rebels were destroyed in Yemen on Wednesday night.
The shipping route from the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden to the Indian Ocean is an extremely important route for world trade and passes directly by Yemen. Because of the Houthi attacks on container ships, several shipping companies are already avoiding sailing through the Red Sea, which is leading to delays and increased freight costs due to the long detours.