In pictures: Firefighters battle blaze on MSC ship hit by Houthi missile

A specialist firefighting team was seen hosing down a burning container on a MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company-controlled boxship after it was hit by a Houthi missile.

The video, released by the Indian Navy, showed limited damage to the 2,169-teu MSC Sky II (built 1999) with the team shown pointing water jets through the open doors of a single container on the deck.

The Liberian-flagged vessel was targeted by two missiles, with one landing some distance from the ship but a second hitting an accommodation block, according to reports.

“The missile caused a small fire that has been extinguished while no crew were injured,” MSC said in a statement. The ship was due to arrive in Djibouti on Tuesday for further assessment.

The footage showed blackened and fire-damaged goods inside the container as the 12-strong team damped down.

The team transferred from an Indian naval destroyer, the Kolkata, which escorted the ship to safer waters, the Indian Navy said.

The ship was steaming from Singapore to Djibouti when it was hit on Monday afternoon about 85 nautical miles (157 km) south-east of the southern Yemeni port city of Aden, MSC said. It had 23 crew members on board, including 13 Indian seafarers.

The ship is operated by MSC Shipmanagement based in Cyprus. Its registered owner is Thorsky Navigation Ltd. The ship was previously named Thorsky under the ownership of Norway’s Thor Dahl Shipping before it changed hands in 2021.

The Houthi rebels claimed the attack was against an “Israeli ship” and was targeted with a “number of suitable naval missiles”.

Military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the hit was “accurate and direct”. The Iran-backed leadership also said that US warships were also attacked on Monday as part of a programme of strikes that were “escalating and continuing”.

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The US Navy said two Houthi missiles were shot down four hours after the attack against the MSC Sky II.

More than 70 attacks have been launched against commercial shipping since mid-November, when the rebels escalated their operations with the seizure of Ray Car Carriers’ 5,100-ceu Galaxy Leader (built 2002).

The rebels said they would continue to attack vessels after their first sinking of a ship, the 32,300-dwt Rubymar (built 1997), at the weekend.