Missile fired from rebel-controlled Yemen misses a container ship in Bab el-Mandeb Strait
A missile fired from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen missed a container ship traveling through the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A missile fired from territory controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen missed a container ship traveling through the crucial Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Thursday, a U.S. defense official said, the latest attack threatening shipping in the crucial maritime chokepoint.
The attack saw the missile splash harmlessly in the water near the Maersk Gibraltar, a Hong Kong-flagged container ship that had been traveling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. The official's comments came after the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors Mideast shipping lanes, put out an alert warning of an incident in the strait, which separates East Africa from the Arabian Peninsula.
The Maersk Gibraltar had also been hailed over the radio by “an entity claiming to be the ‘Yemeni Navy’ ahead of the missile being launched towards the vessel,” the private intelligence firm Ambrey said. “The ‘Yemeni Navy’ demanded the vessel alter course to head for Yemen. Ambrey assessed the entity to be” the Houthis.
Maersk, one of the world's biggest shippers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Thursday's attack marks just the latest in the seaborne attacks attributed to the Houthis as part of their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war raging in the Gaza Strip.
Two missiles fired from Houthi-held territory missed a commercial tanker loaded with Indian-manufactured jet fuel near the key Bab el-Mandeb Strait on Wednesday. Also near the strait, a
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