Retired Navy Ship Cpt. Gene Moran examines the impact of ships forced to find alternative routes around the Red Sea due to Houthi attacks.
Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) said one of its container ships was attacked while transiting the Red Sea on Tuesday afternoon.
The Switzerland-based company said its container ship MSC United VIII was attacked around 12:25 UTC while en route from King Abdullah Port in Saudi Arabia to Karachi in Pakistan.
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia also claimed Tuesday that it had fired missiles at the ship, without saying it had been hit.
“Currently, all crew are safe, no injuries have been reported, and a thorough investigation of the vessel is underway,” MSC said in a statement. “Our top priority remains protecting the lives and safety of our sailors, and until their safety can be ensured, MSC will continue to reroute ships booked for Suez transit via the Cape of Good Hope.”
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An MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co SA container ship sails south through the Great Bitter Lake in Ismailia, Egypt, on Thursday, December 21, 2023. (Stringer/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Attacks on ships transiting the Red Sea have skyrocketed following Israel's offensive against Hamas in response to the militant group's attack on Israel on October 7, which killed 1,200 people and injured hundreds more.
Major shipping companies, including Denmark-based giant Maersk, are avoiding the Red Sea and sending their ships around Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, adding costs and delays.
Maersk said on Sunday it was preparing to allow its ships to resume sailing through the Red Sea thanks to the start of a US-led multinational naval operation to protect shipping from attacks by Houthi rebels.
Huge gantry cranes and unloading freighters in Haifa container port, Israel. (Planet One Images/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Later on Tuesday, the United States Central Command confirmed that the USS Laboon and F/A-18 Super Hornets of the Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group shot down 12 disposable attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two land attack cruise missiles in the Red Sea.
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According to Centcom, the missiles were fired by the Houthis over a 10-hour period starting at around 6:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday. There was no damage to vessels in the area or reported injuries.
FOX Business' Greg Wehner and Portal contributed to this report.