Red Sea, US sinks three Houthi ships: all militiamen ready for attack are dead

For the first time, the Houthis are paying the price for the ongoing campaign of attacks against ships crossing the Yemeni coast. The US Navy intervened during an attempted assault on a container ship in the Red Sea and destroyed three small boats used by pro-Iranian militiamen, killing everyone on board. Four of them had left Houthi-controlled areas to board the Maersk Hangzhou, but, arriving just meters from the ship, they were first turned away by onboard security and then sunk by helicopters departing from nearby US warships that had responded to a request for help. The Americans said they fired in “self-defense” after shots were fired at helicopters from rebel boats. A fourth boat managed to escape, reports the BBC.

Since November, Houthi forces have attacked ships in the Red Sea more than 100 times with drones and missiles. The Iran-backed Yemeni rebel group has previously said its attacks targeted Israeli-linked ships in response to the war in Gaza. The attacked ship, the Maersk Hangzhou, is registered in Singapore and is operated and owned by Danish Maersk, one of the largest shipping companies in the world. The company had resumed the route a few days ago, after the United States and its allies launched a mission to protect ships in the area.

The four Houthi boats attacked at around 6:30 am Yemeni time (4:30 am in Italy) with machine guns and small arms, coming within 20 meters of the container ship, which they “tried to board”. The ship’s crew issued a distress call and a security team responded to the fire. Helicopters from the aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower and the destroyer USS Gravely responded to the call for help and were hit while “warning small boats” to move away. The helicopters “returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats and killing the crews,” said Centcom, the command overseeing the operations. No injuries to US personnel and no damage to equipment. It was the second attack on the Maersk Hangzhou in 24 hours, following yesterday’s foiled missile attack when the destroyers Gravely and Laboon intercepted anti-ship missiles launched from areas controlled by the Houthis. The increase in Houthi attacks over several weeks has led many shipping companies, including Maersk, to divert their ships away from the Red Sea instead of traveling around the Horn of Africa. To reach Egypt’s Suez Canal, ships must pass through the small Bab al-Mandab Strait, close to the coast of Houthi-controlled areas.