The M/V Gibraltar Eagle is seen in Istanbul, Türkiye on August 6, 2021.
Militants have vowed to target merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden in response to Israel’s war with Hamas.
On the afternoon of January 15, “Iranian-backed Houthi fighters fired an anti-ship ballistic missile from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen and attacked the M/V Gibraltar Eagle, a US-owned container ship and operates under the Marshall Islands flag,” Central Command, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, said in a statement.
“The ship has no injuries or significant damage and is continuing its voyage,” the statement added.
US forces had previously detected the launch of an anti-ship ballistic missile from Yemen, the Central Command added, noting that the previous launch “failed in flight and affected land”. immediately in Yemen”.
The attack comes less than a week after the US and UK launched a military campaign in the Red Sea, with the stated goal of keeping trade shipping routes between the Arabian Sea and the Mediterranean open through Suez Canal.
The route accounts for about 15% of the world’s shipping traffic and with Houthi forces carrying out 28 attacks on merchant ships as of Monday, major shipping companies including Maersk, MSC, CMA CGM and Hapag-Lloyd rerouted their ships around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, a longer route between Asia and Europe.
Houthi forces also targeted British and American military ships operating in the area.
British and US warplanes carried out around 70 airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen last Thursday and Friday. US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby described the attacks as having a “good impact” on their targets, but a New York Times report suggested that only 25% of the Houthis’ military assets destroyed during the campaign.
In a speech to parliament on January 15, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the UK is ready to take further military action if necessary. US officials told the New York Times that the US could also launch a second wave of attacks.
The US and UK bombing campaign has been condemned by Russia and Türkiye. Moscow called these activities “illegal” due to the lack of authorization from the United Nations Security Council, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused the two countries of trying to turn the Red Sea into a “sea of blood”. “.
