Maersk has paused all sailing through the Red Sea for 48 hours, the shipping giant announced on Sunday, saying that “Houthis” attacked its Hangzhou merchant vessel this morning in the southern Red Sea
The Danish shipping company said the attack took place after merchant vessel passed through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait en route from Singapore to Port Suez, Egypt.
Around 6:30am (03:30 GMT), the Singapore-flagged vessel was southwest of Hodeidah, Yemen when the crew observed a flash on deck, Maersk said.
For its part, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its navy helicopters sank three of four small boats used by what it called Houthi fighters to attack the vessel.
The crew onboard the Maersk ship reported a flash on deck on Dec 31 at around 1830 CET, when the vessel was 55 nautical miles southwest of Al Hodeidah, the CENTCOM said in a statement posted on X.
“Helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely, responding to distress calls from Maersk Hangzhou, returned fire on the Houthi boats in self-defense and sank three of the vessels, with no survivors,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) added.
The fourth boat fled the area, added the statement.
The Maersk Hangzhou crew was safe and there was no indication of fire onboard the vessel that was fully maneuverable and continued its journey north to Port Suez, Maersk said.
Yemen’s revolutionary forces, known by Western media as Houthis, have repeatedly targeted vessels bounded for the Zionist entity in the vital Red Sea shipping lane, in support of Palestinian people in Gaza who have been since October 7th under brutal Israeli aggression.
Source: Agencies (edited by Al-Manar English Website)
