On Thursday evening, the Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on a ship in the Red Sea with a drone, confirming that it was heading to Israel, in response to the war on the Gaza Strip.
But an American official reported earlier that the ship survived a missile launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, while the Danish shipping company that owns it confirmed the safety of the crew and ship.
A statement published by the Houthi military spokesman, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, said on the “X” platform, “The naval forces of the Yemeni armed forces carried out…a military operation against the Maersk Gibraltar container ship, which was heading to the Israeli entity. It was targeted by a drone and the hit was direct.” “
Earlier, an American official, who declined to reveal his name because he was not authorized to make statements to the media, told Agence France-Presse, “We have indications that a missile was launched at the Maersk Gibraltar ship from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, but it missed the ship and hit the waters.”
For its part, the giant Danish shipping company “Maersk” announced that its container ship had been involved in an “accident” in the Red Sea, stressing that the crew was not harmed.
She stated in a statement that “the crew and the ship are safe,” adding, “At this time, we are still working to confirm the facts of the accident.”
According to the Embry Maritime Security Company, the container ship owned by the Marshall Islands and flying the Hong Kong flag witnessed a water missile hit while it was crossing 45 nautical miles northwest of the Yemeni city of Mokha. “Embry” confirmed that the ship’s crew was not harmed.
The “Maersk Gibraltar” is a 340-meter container ship built in 2016. It was heading from the city of Salalah in the Sultanate of Oman to the port of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, according to the “Marine Traffic” website for monitoring navigation traffic.
This is the latest attack in a series of operations carried out by the Houthis with missiles and drones, which have recently become almost daily, in solidarity with the Gaza Strip, which has been witnessing a war between Hamas and Israel since October 7.
The Houthis reported on Thursday that “the targeting operation came after the ship’s crew refused to respond to calls from the Yemeni naval forces.”
The Houthis have previously repeatedly confirmed that they are targeting ships linked to Israeli entities. However, they recently expanded the scope of their operations by announcing on Saturday that they would prevent the passage of all ships heading to Israeli ports, unless food and medicine were brought into the besieged Gaza Strip.
The statement on Thursday indicated that they had succeeded in “preventing the passage of several ships heading to the Israeli entity during the past 48 hours,” stressing that “all ships heading to Israeli ports will continue to be prevented from navigation in the Arab and Red Seas.”
“The recent attacks on commercial ships in the Bab el-Mandab Strait are very disturbing,” Maersk said.
She added that “the current situation puts the lives of sailors at risk,” calling for “political measures to be taken to ensure a rapid calm.”
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2023-12-14 21:21:52
