The U.S. Navy sank three small boats, killing the crew, military officials said.
December 31, 2023, 4:38 a.m. ET
• 3 min reading
U.S. Navy helicopters fired on and sank three small boats carrying Houthi fighters in the Red Sea on Sunday after U.S. warships responded to a distress call from a merchant vessel, military officials said.
A Maersk container ship, the Singapore-flagged Hangzhou, made a distress call around 6:30 a.m. local time, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Sunday. The merchant ship said four small boats attacked it.
“The small boats, which came from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, fired crew members and small arms at the MAERSK HANGZHOU, came within 20 meters of the ship and attempted to board the ship,” the Central Command said.
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Helicopters from two U.S. ships – the USS Eisenhower and the USS Gravely – responded and verbally hailed the small boats, U.S. officials said.
While the helicopters “were in the process of sending verbal calls to the small boats, the small boats fired on the U.S. helicopters with the crew operating weapons and small arms,” Central Command said.
Military personnel aboard the Navy helicopters returned fire and sank three of the four small boats, killing the crews, U.S. officials said. The fourth boat fled the area.
Sunday's incident was the second time in 24 hours that the Hangzhou had issued a distress call, U.S. Navy officials said.
The ship was traveling about 55 nautical miles southwest of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, on Saturday evening when it was struck by an unknown object, a Maersk spokesman told ABC News.
The 14,000-container ship then continued north and headed for its destination of Port Suez in Egypt.
“Maersk can also confirm that following the initial attack on the vessel, four boats approached the vessel and set fire in an expected attempt to board the vessel,” said Adhish Alawani, a spokesman for Maersk.
Maersk has delayed all transit through the area for the next 48 hours as the incident is investigated, he said.