Another attack against a merchant ship, most likely carried out by Yemen’s Houthis, was reported on Thursday in the Red Sea.
According to maritime intelligence sources, the incident involved a missile fired near the Hanish Islands off south-west Yemen.
One security source said the 10,100-teu AP Moller-Maersk-operated container ship Maersk Gibraltar (built 2016) suffered a near miss in a missile attack in the Red Sea.
There has been no AIS update from the vessel since Thursday, when it was underway in the Middle East Gulf, bound for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia from Salalah in Oman.
The Hong Kong-flag ship is owned by Canada’s Seaspan.
Maersk told TradeWinds it was aware of the ongoing incident.
“The crew and vessel are reported safe. At this time, we are still working to establish the facts of the incident,” a spokesman said.
The company views the safety of its crew and vessel as the top priority, and all possible security measures are being taken to ensure they are removed from harm’s way, he added.
“The recent attacks on commercial vessels in the Bad al-Mandab Strait are extremely concerning. The current situation puts seafarer lives at risk and is unsustainable for global trade. As it cannot be solved by the global shipping industry on its own, we call on political action to ensure a swift de-escalation,” the spokesman said.
The company did not respond to a question about any Israeli links to the ship or its trading pattern.
According to UK Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO), an explosion was sighted 50 metres off the vessel’s port quarter.
A little earlier, UK authorities had issued warnings for vessels sailing in the area after receiving information on two incidents — one in the Red Sea and the other in the Arabian Sea.
The first incident was at 11.46 GMT in the vicinity of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait. Just as in other attacks this week, entities declaring themselves to be Yemeni authorities ordered an unidentified vessel to change course.
The second incident is said to have happened at 12.00 GMT in the open Arabian Sea, quite some distance from Yemeni waters.
Ambrey Analytics said this incident took place 380 miles (610 km) east of Yemen’s Socotra Island.
The Malta-flagged, Bulgarian-owned 41,600-dwt bulker Ruen (built 2016), was transiting at 12 knots, but then appeared to be adrift.
For about an hour, it may have been performing evasive manoeuvres, increasing and decreasing speeds.
The security company believes both the owner in this case, Navibulgar, and Maersk had previously “cooperated” with an Israeli entity, but is investigating further.
Navibulgar has been contacted for comment.
“Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity,” said UKMTO, which is often among the first sources to disseminate information on Houthi action in the area.
Shipping in the region has been on high alert since last month, when the Houthi regime, which controls large swathes of Yemen, started attacking commercial vessels to put pressure on Israel in its war with Hamas in Gaza.
The alert status was significantly increased on 9 December, when the Houthis announced they would no longer attack just ships they consider to be controlled by Israeli interests, but any vessel calling at Israeli ports, regardless of its nationality.
The Houthis followed up on their threat on 11 December and 13 December when they fired missiles on the Norwegian-owned, 20,000-dwt chemical tanker Strinda (built 2006) and the 49,500-dwt Ardmore Encounter (built 2014) respectively.
The two vessels and their crew did not come to harm and they continued their journeys.
In a separate incident this week, an unidentified vessel in the Arabian Sea off Oman was approached by five or six armed, high-speed boats that came within a distance of six to eight cables.
