Small boats carrying Houthi militants fired on U.S. Navy helicopters after they responded to a report of an attack on a merchant vessel in the Red Sea early Sunday, U.S. officials said.
A Maersk container ship, the Singapore-flagged Hangzhou, issued a distress call at about 6:30 a.m. local time, U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Sunday. The merchant vessel said four small boats were attacking it.
Central Command reported that small boats, believed to have originated from Houthi-controlled regions in Yemen, attacked the MAERSK HANGZHOU. The assailants fired crew-served and small arms weapons at the vessel, closing the distance to within 20 meters. The attackers also attempted to board the MAERSK HANGZHOU during the incident.
Helicopters from two U.S. ships, the USS Eisenhower and the USS Gravely, responded to the attack on the MAERSK HANGZHOU and issued verbal warnings to the small boats, according to U.S. officials. During this process, the small boats fired upon the U.S. helicopters with crew-served weapons and small arms, prompting the Navy helicopters’ return fire. Three of the four small boats were subsequently sunk, resulting in the deaths of the crews. The fourth boat fled the area.
This incident occurred shortly after the MAERSK HANGZHOU had issued a distress call due to being hit by an unknown object about 55 nautical miles southwest of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, on Saturday evening. Despite the initial attack, the 14,000-container vessel continued its journey north towards Port Suez, Egypt. Following the distress call, four boats approached the vessel, engaging in gunfire, presumably in an attempt to board the ship. Small boats carrying
Maersk has decided to delay all transits through the area for the next 48 hours as the incident undergoes investigation.