From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 31, 2023
Container ship hit by Houthi missile, US warship shoots down others
The US Central Command says the Maersk Hangzhou container ship reported being struck by a missile while sailing through the Red Sea, seemingly the first successful attack since the launch of an international coalition to patrol the key waterway 10 days ago.
An American warship, the USS Gravely, shot down two more ballistic missiles while responding to a distress call along with the USS Labboon, the military says.
The missiles were fired from a part of Yemen controlled by the Iran-backed Houthi rebel group, which has carried out nearly two dozen attacks on merchant vessels in a bid to choke traffic traversing the key Bab al Mandeb strait connecting the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean.
USS GRAVELY shoots down two anti-ship ballistic missiles while responding to Houthi attack on merchant vessel.
Today at approximately 8:30 p.m. (Sanaa time), the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU reported that they were struck by a missile while transiting the Southern Red Sea. The… pic.twitter.com/nUgifhkdC8
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 31, 2023
According to CentCom, there were no injuries on the Maersk container ship, and the ship remains seaworthy and able to continue its journey.
According to publicly available data, the Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned ship was sailing from Singapore to Port Said Egypt.
The strike comes a day after Denmark joined the international coalition set up to patrol the Red Sea and thwart such attacks.
Maersk, among the world’s largest shippers, recently said it was resuming its more efficient Red Sea routes in apparent reaction to the force being set up, after weeks of sending marine traffic around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope to avoid Houthi attacks.
Speaking before the attack was announced, US Navy Vice Admiral Brad Cooper told the Associated Press that since Operation Prosperity Guardian was announced, 1,200 merchant ships had traveled through the Red Sea region, and none had been hit by drone or missile strikes.
There are five warships from the United States, France, and the United Kingdom patrolling the waters of the southern Red Sea and the western Gulf of Aden, says Cooper, who heads the 5th Fleet. Since the operation started, the ships have shot down a total of 17 drones and four anti-ship ballistic missiles, he says.
The Houthis have threatened to attack any vessel they believe is either going to or coming from Israel, in retaliation for Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
That has escalated to apparently any vessel, with container ships and oil tankers flagged to countries such as Norway and Liberia being attacked or drawing missile fire.
