Yemen
The move by Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd comes after Houthis began attacking ships to pressure Israel over the Gaza war
Agence France Presse
Sat Dec 16, 2023 02:33 GMT
Two of the world's largest shipping companies, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, have said they will suspend transit through a Red Sea strait crucial to global trade after Yemeni rebels attacked in the region.
The Iran-backed Houthis, who control much of Yemen but are not internationally recognized, say they are targeting shipping to pressure Israel during its two-month war with Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Tensions at sea have increased fears that the Gaza conflict could spread.
German transport company Hapag-Lloyd said it would suspend container ship traffic in the Red Sea until Monday after the Houthis attacked one of its ships.
“Hapag-Lloyd is suspending all container ship traffic across the Red Sea until Monday,” the company said in a statement sent to AFP.
A little earlier, the Danish company Maersk made a similar announcement.
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“We have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area scheduled to transit the Bab al-Mandab Strait to suspend their sailing until further notice,” it said.
Maersk said this was due to a “near miss with Maersk Gibraltar yesterday” as well as Friday's attack in which the rebels struck a Hapag-Lloyd cargo ship in the Red Sea.
A U.S. defense official identified it as the Liberian-flagged Al-Jasrah, a 368-meter-long container ship built in 2016.
“We are aware that something fired from a Houthi-controlled region in Yemen hit this damaged ship and there was a report of a fire,” the official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity he could discuss intelligence matters.
The US Middle East Central Command (Centcom) confirmed on X that “a UAV” hit the Al-Jasrah and caused a fire that was successfully extinguished.
A Hapag-Lloyd spokesman told AFP: “There has been an attack on one of our ships.”
It was en route from the Greek port of Piraeus to Singapore. There were no injuries and the ship continued to its destination, he added.
Later in the day, during a pro-Palestinian rally in the Yemeni capital Sanaa, the rebels said they had attacked two more ships in the area.
“The container ships MSC Palatium and MSC Alanya were attacked by two naval missiles as they headed toward Israeli territory,” Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a broadcast on the rebel television channel.
The rebels said that in an earlier attack, the ship Maersk Gibraltar “was attacked with a drone and the hit was direct.” According to a US official, the missile missed its target.
Saree said the attack came after the ship's crew “refused to respond to the calls of the Yemeni naval forces” and that it was intended in retaliation for the “oppression of the Palestinian people.”
Centcom said the MSC Alanya was only threatened but not hit, while the Palatium was hit by one of two ballistic missiles that were fired.
In a statement posted on social media on December 9, the Houthis said they will “prevent the passage” of ships bound for Israel – regardless of owner – if food and medicine are not in the besieged, Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
On Tuesday they claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on a Norwegian-flagged tanker.
Last month they seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship, the Galaxy Leader, and its 25 international crew members.
The attack on the Al-Jasrah occurred near Bab al-Mandab, the narrow strait between Yemen and northeast Africa through which about 20,000 ships pass annually.
The area leads to the Red Sea, Israel's southern port facilities and the Suez Canal, making it part of a strategic route for oil and natural gas shipments from the Gulf.
The Houthis have declared themselves the “axis of resistance” of Iran-linked groups.
Western warships patrol the area and have shot down Houthi missiles and drones on several occasions.
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