By Al-Fassel | 2024-01-03

Shipping giant Maersk on Tuesday (January 2) said it would not resume passage through the Red Sea "until further notice" as the Iran-backed Houthis continued to launch attacks on commercial vessels in the key international waterway.

"We have decided to pause all transits through the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden until further notice," Maersk said in a statement.

"In cases where it makes most sense for our customers, vessels will be rerouted and continue their journey around the Cape of Good Hope," the company added.

This is the second time Maersk has suspended shipping through the Red Sea.

In mid-December, like other global shipping giants, the Danish company halted passage of its ships through the route, following attacks by the Houthis.

It announced it would resume shipping on December 24, only to suspend traffic again on December 31, one week later.

At approximately 9.30pm local time Tuesday, the Houthis fired two missiles toward merchant ships traveling near Bab al-Mandeb, the US military said.

"Multiple commercial ships in the area reported the impact of the anti-ship ballistic missiles (ASBMs) into the surrounding water though none have reported any damage," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on X.

"These illegal actions endangered the lives of dozens of innocent mariners and continue to disrupt the free flow of international commerce."

In addition to harming international commerce, the Houthi attacks are undermining Yemen's already fragile economy, exacerbating the country's humanitarian crisis and dimming prospects of ending the nine-year civil war.

Attacks on commercial vessels

US Navy helicopters on Sunday sank three small boats piloted by the Houthis that were attacking a merchant vessel in the southern Red Sea as they responded to a distress call from the vessel, the US military said.

At 6.30am local time, the container ship Maersk Hangzhou issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours, reporting that it was under attack from four small boats originating from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

Gunmen fired at the Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned/operated container ship from the small boats, getting to within 20 meters of the vessel and attempting to board.

A security team on the vessel returned fire.

US helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and Gravely responded to the distress call, CENTCOM said.

"In the process of issuing verbal calls to the small boats, the small boats fired upon the US helicopters," it added.

"The US Navy helicopters returned fire in self-defense, sinking three of the four small boats, and killing the crews. The fourth boat fled the area," it said.

Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree confirmed that 10 members of the group's naval forces were "killed or missing" in the US strike, AFP reported.

At approximately 8.30pm local time on Saturday, Maersk Hangzhou issued its first distress call, reporting it had been struck by a missile while transiting the southern Red Sea, en route from Singapore to Egypt's Port Suez.

The vessel requested assistance, and the USS Gravely and USS Laboon responded, with the Gravely shooting down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the ships in the process.

Following the Sunday incident, Maersk suspended the passage of its vessels through the Red Sea for 48 hours -- a pause it has now extended indefinitely.

On December 28, the USS Mason shot down one drone and one anti-ship ballistic missile in the southern Red Sea that were fired by the Houthis.

And US forces on December 26 shot down 12 one-way attack drones, three anti-ship ballistic missiles and two land attack cruise missiles in the southern Red Sea that were fired by the Houthis over a 10-hour period.

UK willing to take 'direct action'

Britain is "willing to take direct action" against the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen following their repeated attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said Monday.

A British destroyer shot down a suspected Houthi attack drone in the Red Sea in mid-December.

Hours after the Sunday incident involving Maersk Hangzhou, Shapps said Britain could step up its own military interventions.

"We are willing to take direct action, and we won't hesitate to take further action to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea," he wrote in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

The Houthis "should be under no misunderstanding: we are committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks," he said.

Shapps described the situation in the region as "a test for the international community" that had implications for other potentially contested waterways.

"If we do not protect the Red Sea, it risks emboldening those looking to threaten elsewhere including in the South China Sea and Crimea," he added.

"We need to stand firm with our allies, stand firm for our beliefs and stand firm for innocent people caught up in these events."

Iranian provocations

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Sunday he had spoken to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian about the Red Sea tensions.

"I made clear that Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks," he said on social media, noting Tehran's "long-standing support" for the Houthis.

Amir-Abdollahian met with Houthi spokesman Mohammed Abdulsalam in Tehran on Monday, thanking the group for its recent activities, Reuters reported.

Abdulsalam reportedly expressed gratitude to Iran for its "continuous political support" to the so-called "axis of resistance."

Iran's Tasnim news agency on Monday reported that Iran's Alborz warship has entered the Red Sea through Bab al-Mandeb strait.

The agency did not give specific reasons for its deployment but noted that Iranian military vessels had operated in the area since 2009, AFP reported.

International efforts

Since US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the establishment of a new multinational security initiative in the Red Sea on December 18, more than a dozen countries have confirmed their participation in the operation.

Operation Prosperity Guardian operates under the auspices of the 39-member Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and the leadership of its Combined Task Force 153 (CTF 153), which focuses on security in the Red Sea.

It is a focused, international effort to address maritime security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security, CMF said.

Separately, Germany and its European Union (EU) partners are examining whether they could mount a new maritime mission to protect commercial vessels under threat of attack in the Red Sea, Reuters reported December 28.

"We as the German government are ready for this. It is important that we as the EU are able to act as quickly as possible in view of the ongoing attacks," a foreign ministry spokesperson said.

Germany is continuing to mull participation in the US-led mission, the spokesperson added.

There also have been talks in Brussels about extending an existing EU anti-piracy mission, Atalanta, to protect Red Sea shipping, but no decision has been made, said the spokesperson.