Maersk denies Houthi claim container ship hit by Yemeni militia

COPENHAGEN : Maersk Line has denied a claim by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement that the militia carried out a drone strike on a Maersk vessel sailing towards Israel.

The Houthis earlier claimed it carried out a military operation against a Maersk container vessel, directly hitting it with a drone. The Houthis, who made the claim in a statement, did not release any evidence.

Maersk on Thursday said ship Maersk Gibraltar was targeted by a missile while travelling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and that the crew and vessel were reported safe.

Yahya said: “With God’s help, we targeted the Megalopolis ship in the Arabian Sea with a number of drones. The ship was targeted because its owner company violated the decision to ban entry to the ports of occupied Palestine.”

However, a Maersk spokesperson said: “It has been confirmed as fake news.” According to EconDB, Megalopolis is assigned to Maersk’s ME8 service connecting the Middle East with the Europe. The ME8 was introduced in February to offer solutions for containers heading to the West and East Mediterranean from the Persian Gulf.

S&P Global’s data does not show Megalopolis as being in casualty or undergoing repairs, and that the ship is off Salalah, Oman. The ship was underway from Valencia, Spain, to Jebel Ali, with its estimated date of arrival being on 21 October.

The last attack on a Maersk-operated ship was in July, when the 6,648 TEU Maersk Sentosa escaped damage or crew injuries after being hit by missiles in the Arabian Sea.

In the past week, US Central Command (CENTCOM) forces successfully destroyed 20 one-way attack uncrewed aerial systems and cruise missiles.

Source : Reuters