A ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthis slammed into a cargo ship Friday in the Red Sea near the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, following another attack only hours earlier that struck a separate vessel, authorities said.
The missile attack on the MSC Palatium III and the earlier assault on the Al Jasrah escalate a maritime campaign by the Iranian-backed Houthis.
The attacks also endanger ships traveling through a vital corridor for cargo and energy shipments for both Europe and Asia from the Suez Canal out to the Indian Ocean.
The Houthis say their attacks aim to end the pounding Israeli air-and-ground offensive targeting the Gaza Strip amid that country’s war on Hamas. However, the links to the ships targeted in the Houthi assaults have grown more tenuous as the attacks continue.
“The Yemeni armed forces confirm they will continue to prevent all ships heading to Israeli ports from navigating in the (Red Sea) until they bring in the food and medicine that our steadfast brothers in the Gaza Strip need,” the Houthi military spokesman, Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, said in a statement claiming responsibility for Friday’s attacks.
A US defence official and the private intelligence firm Ambrey said the MSC Palatium III, a Liberian-flagged container ship, caught fire after the strike. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone on board the vessel had been hurt.
Two missiles were fired in the attack, likely trying to hit the Al Jasrah, the US official said. One went wide and splashed down in the water, the other slammed into the Palatium, the official said.
The Palatium turned around after the attack and was now trying to head south, tracking data analysed by The Associated Press showed.
The Switzerland-based MSC, or Mediterranean Shipping Co., earlier had another vessel, the MSC Alanya, warned by the Houthis around the Bab al-Mandeb, Ambrey said. “The parent company had cooperated with Israel, and this was likely the reason why she was threatened.”
The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters. MSC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the earlier Al Jasrah attack, it remained unclear if it was a missile or drone that hit the vessel, the official said.
Ambrey and the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors Mideast shipping lanes, also confirmed that attack. “The projectile reportedly hit the port side of the vessel and one container fell overboard due to the impact,” Ambrey said. “The projectile caused a ‘fire on deck’ which was broadcast via” radio.
The Al Jasrah is operated by German-based shipper Hapag-Lloyd, which said no crew member had been hurt in the attack.
“Hapag-Lloyd will take additional measures to secure the safety of our crews,” the company said, without elaborating. Ambrey noted that Hapag-Lloyd “is known to have offices in the Israeli ports of Ashdod, Haifa and Tel Aviv.”
In his statement, military spokesman Saree claimed the Houthis targeted the Palatium III and the Alanya - not the Al Jasrah. It wasn’t immediately clear why he erroneously identified the second ship.