US forces sink ‘Houthi’ boats in Red Sea after attack on Maersk vessel
Al Jazeera
Global shipping giant Maersk is suspending operations in the Red Sea for 48 hours after the attack.
The United States military says it has sunk three boats waging an attack on a container ship in the Red Sea as it continues its patrol mission to counter threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Helicopters from two US warships – the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely – shot at the “Iranian-backed Houthi small boats” in self-defence on Sunday morning while responding to an SOS call from the Singapore-flagged vessel Maersk Hangzhou, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said. The US helicopters sunk three of the boats, killing several of their crew, it said. A fourth boat escaped.
Maersk Hangzhou issued its distress call after it was fired at by the Houthi boats, which came as close as 20 meters and also tried to board it, CENTCOM said in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
As the US helicopters responded, they were also shot at by the Houthi boats, prompting them to return fire, added the CENTCOM statement.
