Houthi Missile Strikes MSC Container Ship, MSC Sky II, in the Gulf of Aden

Houthis attacked and impaired a container vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Monday as the group continued roiling shipping in the area.

The Swiss-owned MSC Sky II, managed by the shipping group MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co., was approximately 90 miles southeast of Aden in Yemen when a blast happened. The Houthis launched two missiles, and one of these struck the vessel, as reported by the US military.

Based on preliminary reports, no one was injured, the US Central Command disclosed on X. The vessel did not seek assistance and resumed its journey.

MSC stated that the vessel was targeted from Singapore to Djibouti on Monday via the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The missile sparked a small fire, which was put out, and no crew members suffered any injuries, per the report. She is now on her way to Djibouti and is expected to arrive on Tuesday for an additional assessment. The Houthis have claimed the attack.

Earlier, security major Ambrey Analytics stated that the explosion had damaged one accommodation block and another portion of the vessel.

The Houthis have been going on attacking merchant as well as military vessels in and around the waters of the southern Red Sea since the middle of November 2023, ostensibly in support of Hamas as it is waging a war against Israel in Gaza.

The group has further said that it won’t be backing down from hitting the vessels until Israel decides to stop fighting. The Houthis have withstood multiple series of airstrikes from the forces of the UK and the US on their positions in Yemen. The shipping assaults have, by now, resulted in thousands of miles worth of diversions for the merchant vessels — compelling them to sail via southern Africa instead of via the waters of the Suez Canal and the Red Sea — and this has sent freight rates rocketing.

Many oil majors are now diverting their cargoes. On Monday, through a note to its clients, Goldman Sachs Group said that almost half the respondents in a recent survey did not expect any normalization of the flows in 2024.

During the weekend, another merchant vessel, the Rubymar, sank almost two weeks after it was hit by Houthi missiles. It also marked the first-ever vessel the Houthis sunk. They continue holding a Japanese-chartered car carrier named the Galaxy Leade, which got hijacked in November 2023.

The US military further reported two incidents on Monday. It mentioned that the Houthis had fired a ballistic missile, which landed in the Red Sea without bringing about damage to vessels. Later on, the US forces reportedly attacked two anti-ship cruise missiles, which reflected an imminent risk to the merchant vessels and US Navy vessels in that region.

References: Yahoo News, Reuters

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