Houthi attacks lead shipping giant Maersk to halt Red Sea transit

Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk will pause its container shipments through the Red Sea until further notice after various vessels came under attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

“Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice,” the company said in a statement to Reuters.

The missile attacks on the MSC Palatium III and the Al Jasrah vessels are escalating the maritime campaign by the Iranian-backed Houthis. The group says their attacks aim to end the Israeli airstrikes and ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip amid the war with Hamas, The Associated Press reported.

A Houthi spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed responsibility for the attack and said the Yemeni armed forces will continue preventing ships from heading to Israeli ports in the Red Sea “until they bring in the food and medicine that our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip need.”

German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd was operating the Al Jasrah at the time and said it would pause all traffic in the corridor until Monday.

Ambrey, the global maritime risk management service in England, confirmed that a projectile hit the side of the ship, causing a container to fall overboard. The projectile caused a “fire on deck,” but no injuries were reported.

The MSC Palatium III, a Liberian-flagged ship, caught fire after the strike. The AP said the ship turned around and was trying to head south.

The U.S. Central Command (Centcom) confirmed the attacks Thursday and said while the incident did not directly involve U.S. forces, “we continue to closely monitor the situation.”

“These attacks continue to threaten international maritime security,” Centcom said.

In a post online, Maersk said the recent attacks on commercial vessels “are alarming and pose a significant threat to the safety & lives of seafarers.”

“This issue cannot be addressed by the global shipping industry alone, and we urge the international society to come together to find a swift resolution to bring the situation under control,” according to the post.

The Associated Press contributed.