A United States-owned ship was struck by a missile off the coast of Yemen on Monday (Jan 15), a UK security agency and maritime risk company said.
This comes a day after Houthi rebels launched a cruise missile targeting a US destroyer.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations security agency on its website reported that a “vessel hit from above by a missile” in the Gulf of Aden without providing further details.
UK maritime risk company Ambrey said that a fire broke out on board the Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier, further informing that no one was hurt in the incident and that the ship was still seaworthy.
The company “assessed the attack to have targeted US interests in response to US military strikes on Houthi military positions in Yemen”, Ambrey said, adding that the vessel was “assessed to not be Israel-affiliated”.
“The impact reportedly caused a fire in a hold. The bulker reportedly remained seaworthy, and no injuries were reported,” it said.
The ship was identified by US Central Command as the M/V Gibraltar Eagle.
“On Jan. 15 at approximately 4 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship. The ship has reported no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its journey,” read a post by CENTCOM on X.
On Jan. 15 at approximately 4 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi militants fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen and struck the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a Marshall Islands-flagged, U.S.-owned and operated container ship. The ship has… pic.twitter.com/gixEMaUiVT
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 15, 2024
Yemen rebels claim attack on US-owned ship
Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the missile strike that hit the US-owned ship in the Gulf of Aden on Monday (Jan 15).
The Houthi’s military spokesman Yahya Saree released a statement claiming responsibility for the attack claiming that the Iran-backed group “carried out a military operation targeting an American ship”, adding that “a certain number of appropriate naval missiles” were used.
US says it shot down anti-ship cruise missile from Houthi area of Yemen
A US fighter aircraft shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired from Iranian-backed Houthi rebel areas of Yemen towards the USS Laboon, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday (Jan 14).
WATCH | US & Britain unleash typhoons, Tomahawks & nuclear submarine on Houthis in Yemen
“On Jan. 14 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon (DDG 58), which was operating in the Southern Red Sea,” read the statement by CENTCOM posted on X.
On Jan. 14 at approximately 4:45 p.m. (Sanaa time), an anti-ship cruise missile was fired from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen toward USS Laboon (DDG 58), which was operating in the Southern Red Sea. The missile was shot down in vicinity of the coast of Hudaydah by… pic.twitter.com/jftZHQhA2e
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) January 15, 2024
“The missile was shot down in the vicinity of the coast of Hudaydah by US fighter aircraft,” it added.
US and British forces on Friday (Jan 12) launched strikes on rebel targets across Yemen raising concerns that Israel’s war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas could overtake the region.
Strikes against Houthis successful, says UK PM
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday said that as per his government’s assessment, all the planned targets were hit in the coalition strikes launched against Iran-backed Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
He also said that there were no civilian casualties reported in the strikes, which took place overnight between Thursday and Friday.
“I can tell the House (of Commons) today that our initial assessment is that all 13 planned targets were destroyed,” Sunak said during an address to parliament, describing the strikes as “successful”.
“We have seen no evidence thus far of civilian causalities, which we took great care to avoid,” he added.
‘Security of all shipping harmed after US strikes on Yemen’, says Hezbollah
The Hezbollah group on Sunday said that the United States was mistaken if it assumed that the Houthis would cease confronting Israel in the Red Sea, further stating that the US actions there would jeopardize the safety of all marine navigation.
“If (US President) Biden and those with him think the Yemenis will stop supporting Gaza in the Red Sea, they are wrong and ignorant. They don’t know Yemen, its people its leadership and its history. They don’t know anything,” Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
Dubbing the coalition strikes by the US and Britain as “an act of stupidity”, Nasrallah said the Houthis would continue targeting ships belonging to Israel and going to its ports.
“The more dangerous thing is what the Americans did in the Red Sea will harm the security of all maritime navigation, even the ships that are not going to Palestine, even the ships which are not Israeli, even the ships that have nothing to do with the matter because the sea has become a theatre of fighting, missiles, drones and warships,” he said.
(With inputs from agencies)
