Maersk pauses Red Sea sailings after Houthi attack on container ship

By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Ahmed Elimam

COPENHAGEN/DUBAI/CAIRO (Reuters) -Iranian-backed Houthi militants attacked a Maersk container vessel with missiles and small boats, prompting the company to pause all sailing through the Red Sea for 48 hours, Maersk said on Sunday.

The crew of the Maersk Hangzhou crew was safe and there was no indication of fire onboard the vessel, which continued its journey north to Port Suez, the shipping company said.

A spokesman for the Houthis said the group carried out the attack because the ship’s crew refused to heed warning calls. He said 10 Houthi naval personnel were “dead and missing” after their boats were attacked by U.S. forces in the Red Sea.

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its helicopters sank three of four boats after responding to distress calls, with the fourth vessel fleeing.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby (NYSE:) declined to say what options are on or off the table when asked on ABC’s “Good Morning America” if Washington would consider a preemptive strike.

“We have made it clear publicly to the Houthis, we’ve made it clear privately to our allies and partners in the region, that we take these threats seriously.”

The attack on Maersk Hangzhou was the latest by Houthi militants in Yemen, who have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea since November to show their support for Palestinian Islamist group Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza.

The attacks have disrupted world trade, with major shipping companies taking the longer and costlier route around the Africa’s Cape of Good Hope rather than through the Suez Canal.

The Red Sea is the entry point for ships using the Suez Canal, which handles about 12% of global trade and vital for the movement of goods between Asia and Europe.

The United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian on Dec. 19, saying more than 20 countries had agreed to participate in the efforts to safeguard ships in Red Sea waters near Yemen.

In response, Maersk said on Dec. 24 it would resume sailing through the Red Sea. However, attacks have continued and U.S. allies have proven reluctant to commit to the coalition, with nearly half not declaring their presence publicly.

On Sunday, Maersk, one of the world’s major cargo shippers, said it would delay all transits through the area for 48 hours, after the Maersk Hangzhou was struck by a missile at around 1730 GMT on Saturday 55 nautical miles southwest of Al Hodeidah, Yemen.

A U.S. warship shot down another two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired at the ship, CENTCOM said.

Efforts to ward off the four boats at around 0330 GMT on Sunday as the attackers sought to board the vessel involved the ship’s security team as well as helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely, Maersk and CENTCOM said.

The Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou with capacity to carry 14,000 containers was en route from Singapore.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Sunday that he had told Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a call that Iran should help stop the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

“I made clear that Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks, given their long-standing support to the Houthis,” Cameron said in a post on social media site X, adding that the attacks “threaten innocent lives and the global economy”.

The BIMCO shipping association condemned the attacks and thanked those states involved in repelling them.

“We are thankful to U.S., French, and UK efforts so far and hope even more states will support the coalition with naval assets or other impactful means including diplomatic pressure on the Houthis and their sponsors,” Jakob Larsen, BIMCO’s head of maritime safety and security, told Reuters.

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