Karachi-bound container ship comes under attack in Red Sea, Houthi militia claims responsibility
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (Representative Image)
In continuation to a slew ofattacks in the Red Sea against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, another container ship that was heading to the Karachi Port fromKing Abdullah Port in Saudi Arabia was targeted on Tuesday (Dec 26), media reports said.
This comes amid a flurry of drone strikes by Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the counterstrikes by the US in the Red Sea.
The attack has been claimed by Yemen’s Houthi militia. No casualties have been reported on board the ship, as per reportsciting a statement by the owner of the ship.
Ships navigating in the Red Sea are frequently being targeted, which is triggering concerns regarding a spillover of the Gaza war.
According to the global shipping line Mediterranean Shipping Co, which was founded by Gianluigi Aponte in Italy in 1970, United VIII was attacked while it was transiting the Red Sea. United VIII was reportedly built in 2006. Presently, the ship is sailing under the flag of Liberia.
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"All crew are safe with no reported injuries and a thorough assessment of the vessel is being conducted," MSC said and added, “The vessel was en route from King Abdullah Port to Karachi.”
The company has assured that its top priority is to ensure the safety of theseafarers and that "MSC will continue to reroute vessels booked for Suez transit via the Cape of Good Hope”.
With the number of attacks in the Red Sea seeing a spike, the Cape of Good Hope route, on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa, is being treated as an alternative by the shipping companies.
A nearby coalition task force notified
Reports by news agencies citing the MSC shipping company said that following the attack, the ship had sent a notification to a nearby coalition task force warship. Presently, the shipping company is engaged in carrying out ‘evasive manoeuvres’.
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Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree, who reportedly has a $5 million bounty on his head by Saudi Arabia, said, “The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against the commercial ship, ‘MSC United’ with appropriate naval missiles.”
“The targeting operation of the ship came after the crew refused, for the third time, calls from the naval forces, as well as repeated fiery warning messages”, the statement added.
As the attacks on shipping containers became rampant, the Houthi militia also carried out drone attacks on the Israeli port city of Eilat.
(With inputs from agencies)