The US Central Command on Sunday said small boats originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen fired at container ship Maersk Hangzhou. It pointed out that this was the second distress call within 24 hours issued by the Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned and operated container ship which was struck earlier by an anti-ship missile launched by the Houthi rebels.
Iranian-backed Houthi small boats attack merchant vessel and U.S. Navy helicopters in Southern Red SeaOn Dec. 31 at 6:30am (Sanaa time) the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours reporting being under attack by four Iranian-backed… pic.twitter.com/pj8NAzjbVF
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 31, 2023
The US Central Command further added that these operatives of the Houthi-backed militias even tried to get aboard the container ship. The incident occurred around 6:30 am (local time).
“The container ship Maersk Hangzhou issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours reporting being under attack by four Iranian-backed Houthi small boats,” the US Centcom said.
“The small boats, originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, fired crew-served and small arms weapons at the Maersk Hangzhou, getting to within 20 metres of the vessel, and attempted to board the vessel,” the US Centcom further added.
The US Centcom said that a security team on the container ship returned fire and then later helicopters launched from American warships USS Eisenhower (CVN 69) and Gravely (DDG 107) responded to the distress call only to be fired at. The US Centcom said that it returned fire in self-defence and sank three of the four small boats and killed the crews.
It added that the fourth boat fled the area and no US personnel or equipment sustained damages.
Earlier, an American destroyer shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Yemen Saturday as it responded to a call for help from the same container ship that was hit in a separate strike, the US military said.
CENTCOM said the USS Gravely and USS Laboon — both destroyers — responded to a request for assistance from the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned and operated container ship that reported being struck by a missile while transiting the Red Sea.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is battling terrorist group Hamas.
Comments
0 comment