Copenhagen, Denmark

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen launched a missile at a cargo ship which was en route to Saudi Arabia on Thursday (Dec 13). However, the target was missed, said a US official as well as a private intelligence firm.

In the incident, which involved Danish shipping giant Maersk Gibraltar's container ship, no one was hurt. The ship was sailing from Salalah, Oman to Jeddah, stated the Danish shipping giant.

In a statement, Maersk Gibraltar said, "The crew and vessel is reported safe”, further stating that the company was "still working to establish the facts of the incident".

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Meanwhile, a US official said, "We have indications that a missile was fired at the Maersk Gibraltar from a Huthi-controlled area of Yemen, and that it hit the water and missed the ship.”

Attacks on commercial vessels an issue of concern: Maersk

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The missile attack came at a time when dozens of drones and missiles are being fired daily by the rebels at ships, who have confirmed their support to Palestine in the Israel-Hamas war.

In the statement, Maersk said, "The recent attacks on commercial vessels... 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."

As per Intelligence firm Ambrey, the Marshall Islands-owned ship fired missiles when it was 45 nautical miles off the coast of Mocha, and added that the crew remained unharmed.

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"Ambrey understands that the parent company has cooperated with an Israeli carrier but this particular vessel was not assessed to be Israeli-operated at the time of writing," said the firm, in a statement.

The Houthis have announced that they would attack any ship moving off the coast of Yemen and have links to Israel. The attack took place near Bab-el-Mandeb, which is the strait between northeast Africa and Yemen leading to the Red Sea. This is considered a key route for reaching the Suez Canal and Israel's southern port of Eilat.

Ambrey said that the Houthis followed the same pattern which they adopted for other vessels recently. They first ordered the ship to dock in a Yemeni port and then fired it, when it failed to comply with their instructions, the firm added.

Hamas on Saturday (Dec 9) said that they "will prevent the passage of ships heading to the Zionist entity" if medicine and food are not sent into besieged Gaza.

(With inputs from agencies)