Danish shipping company Maersk on Friday denied a claim by Yemen’s Houthi movement that its forces carried out a drone strike on a Maersk vessel sailing towards Israel.
Maersk on Thursday said ship Maersk Gibraltar was targeted by a missile while travelling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and that the crew and vessel were reported safe.
The incident took place near the Bad al-Mandab Strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the same area where the Houthis on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a missile attack on a Norwegian chemical tanker.
The Houthis earlier claimed it carried out a military operation against a Maersk container vessel, directly hitting it with a drone.
According to a statement by Yemeni Army Spokesperson, Yahya Saree: “The Naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a military operation against the “Maersik Gebrelater” container ship, which was heading to the “Israeli” entity. It was targeted by a drone and was hit directly.
“The targeting operation came after the ship’s crew refused to respond to calls from the Yemeni naval forces.
“The Yemeni armed forces succeeded in preventing the passage of several ships heading to the “Israeli” entity during the past 48 hours.
“The Yemeni armed forces confirm that they continue to prevent all ships heading to “Israeli” ports from navigating in the Arab and Red Seas until they bring in the food and medicine that our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip need.”
But a Maersk Spokesperson told Rueters in an emailed statement following the claim that “the vessel was not hit.”
“The recent attacks on commercial vessels in the Bad al-Mandab Strait are extremely concerning. The current situation puts seafarer lives at risk and is unsustainable for global trade,” Maersk said earlier.
The United States Military Central Command (CENTCOM) backs Maersk, saying in an X post on Friday morning: “Midday Dec. 14 (Sanaa time), a ballistic missile was fired from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen toward the international shipping lane north of the Bab-el-Mandeb.
“There were no injuries or damage. Following the missile launch, the M/V Maersk Gibraltar was hailed by the Houthis, who threatened further missile attacks.
“The M/V Maersk Gibraltar is a Hong Kong-flagged cargo container vessel. While this incident did not involve US Forces, we continue to closely monitor the situation. These attacks continue to threaten international maritime.”