Major shipping company suspends trips through the Red Sea again
The US military called in to help is able to repel the attack by the Houthi militia on the freighter "Hangzhou" in the Red Sea. Several boats are sunk. However, the major shipping company Maersk wants to avoid the waterway, which is important for global trade, again for the time being.
Due to an attack by Houthi rebels on one of its ships in the Red Sea, the Danish shipping company Maersk is suspending its transits in the area for 48 hours. As the company announced, its container ship "Hangzhou" was first hit by a missile while passing through the Bab al-Mandab strait and then attacked by four boats belonging to the Yemeni Houthis. They apparently wanted to capture the container ship.
The Singapore-flagged container ship apparently remained undamaged and was able to continue its journey, according to Maersk. The US forces in the region announced that naval helicopters had sunk three of the four Huthi boats. The fourth boat had escaped. Previously, the US Central Command Centcom had already stated in online networks that a US destroyer had shot down two anti-ship missiles fired from Yemen after US warships tried to come to the aid of the "Hangzhou".
Since the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas began in early October, the Iran-backed Houthi militia in Yemen has fired drones and missiles at Israel several times and attacked ships in the Red Sea. As a result, Maersk temporarily suspended the passage of ships through the Bab al-Mandab strait between Yemen and the African country of Djibouti in mid-December. Other shipping companies followed suit, including Germany's Hapag-Lloyd.
23rd Huthi attack in the Red Sea since November
The missiles in connection with the attack on the "Hangzhou" were launched from an area controlled by the Iranian-backed Huthi militia, Centcom announced. Saturday's launch was the "23rd illegal attack by the Houthis on international shipping" since November 19. The Houthis see themselves as part of the self-proclaimed "Axis of Resistance" directed against Israel. In addition to Hamas, this also includes the Shiite Islamist Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.
The Red Sea is a central trade route through which up to twelve percent of world trade passes. Due to the wave of Houthi attacks on container ships, several shipping companies now avoid sailing through the strait near Yemen, which leads to delays and increased freight costs due to the long detours. In order to protect commercial shipping, the USA announced the formation of an international military coalition to secure shipping in the Red Sea a few days before Christmas.
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- Following the 23rd Houthi attack on international shipping in the Red Sea since November, Maersk, the Danish arm of the renowned Moeller-Maersk Shipping group, has decided to temporarily halt its voyages through the Red Sea.
- The latest attack on the Maersk-owned container ship, "Hangzhou," took place in the Yemeni region, which is controlled by the Houthi rebels, and involved a missile strike and an ensuing boat assault by the Houthi forces.
- As tensions in the Middle East conflict escalate, with the Houthi rebels having targeted both Israeli territories and shipping vessels in the Red Sea, Maersk joins a growing number of maritime companies that are rerouting their shipping lanes away from the Bab al-Mandab strait, a strategic passageway in the Red Sea.
Source: www.ntv.de
