US Navy Intercepts Missiles In Red Sea While Protecting Maersk Ships

Maersk mentioned that the explosions close by compelled two vessels operated by the U.S. subsidiary and carrying U.S. military supplies to turn around when they were transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait, accompanied by the U.S. Navy. While on the route, both the vessels reported that they had seen explosions close by, and the U.S. Navy accompaniment intercepted several projectiles, Maersk mentioned in a statement, adding that it was suspending all Red Sea transits by vessels of the U.S. subsidiary.

A spokesperson with Yemen’s Houthi military forces mentioned that they fired multiple ballistic missiles at various U.S. war vessels that were safeguarding the two U.S. commercial vessels. The Maersk Line runs the Commercial Vessels, Limited (abbreviated the MLL), its U.S. subsidiary, which transports the cargo for the Departments of Defense and State, the USAID, and other U.S. governmental agencies. Both vessels are enrolled in the Maritime Security Program (abbreviated the MSP) and the Voluntary Intermodal Sealift Agreement (the VISA) with the U.S. government, which is why they had been escorted via the strait by the U.S. Navy vessels, Maersk mentioned.

MSP and VISA are programs the U.S. Defense Department facilitates to transport supplies, forces, and equipment during war or national emergencies. The vessels and crew members were safe and were being escorted back to the Gulf of Aden by the U.S. Navy, Maersk stated. Bab al-Mandab is the outlet of the waters of the Red Sea, between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea on the African coast.

Yahya Sarea, the Houthi military spokesperson, mentioned in a statement that Houthi forces had reportedly targeted several U.S. war vessels with ballistic missiles on Wednesday in a “clash” that lasted over two hours and resulted in a U.S. war vessel being hit directly and the two commercial vessels needing to withdraw and return.

The statement declared that several ballistic missiles struck the targets despite warships’ trials to intercept them. A U.S. official reported that no vessels were hit by Houthi missiles, per an official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Houthi forces had fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles toward the Maersk Detroit (US-flagged container vessel) on Wednesday as it was sailing in the Gulf of Aden, the U.S. Central Command stated separately. There were zero reports of injuries or damages to the vessel, it added in a statement.

On January 5, Maersk reported that it would be diverting its container vessels far from the Red Sea in the foreseeable future. Till Wednesday, MLL vessels were an exception, but that won’t be the case any longer, Maersk informed. Following the escalation of risks, MLL is pausing transits in the zone until further notice, it declared on Wednesday. Seafarers continue to be in the firing line and have signed deals to receive double pay as they enter high-risk zones.

There is a feeling of vulnerability, said Stephen Cotton, the General Secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation, the critical union for seafarers, reported to Reuters. The feedback from the vessel captains is on the container trades; they are happier to sail via the Cape.

The U.S. maritime labour organizations have been concerned about the impact on the US-flagged vessels, which in recent weeks have been subjected to what the nine unions called the most critical attacks on the US Merchant Marine in over half a century. U.S.-flag ships loaded with military, commercial, and foreign aid cargoes must be given adequate protection from the U.S. military as they sail in the increasingly treacherous Red Sea, the unions expressed in a January 19 letter to the U.S. Transport.
Command.

Reference: Reuters

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Source: Maritime Shipping News