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On January 3, the Houthis (Ansar Allah) in Yemen announced that they had “targeted” a cargo ship that was sailing through the Red Sea towards Israel.
Brigade General Yahya Sari, a spokesman for the Houthis, said in a video statement aired by the Sanaa-based Al Masirah TV that the ship, CMA CGM Tage, was attacked after ignoring warnings.
“The operation came after the ship’s crew refused to respond to calls from our forces, including fiery warning messages,” he said.
The Houthis, who control much of Yemen’s Red Sea coast, are a part of the so-called Axis of Resistance that is backed by Iran and opposes Israel.
The group has fired several missiles and drones at the southernmost Israeli city of Eilat since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip. It also assaulted a number of Israeli-related ships and announced a blockade on all ships heading to Israel.
Brig. Gen. Sari stressed in his statement that the Houthis will continue to prevent Israeli ships or those heading to Israel from sailing in the Red Sea and Arab Sea until food and medicine aid are allowed to enter the Gaza Strip.
He also warned that “any United State attack [against Yemen] will not pass without a response or punishment” by the Houthis.
In response to the Houthis’ claims, French container shipping giant CMA CGM SA said in a statement that “the vessel did not suffer any incident” and was sailing through the Red Sea toward the port of Alexandria, at the northern end of Egypt’s Suez Canal.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a British naval detachment, reported that a vessel came under attack at around the time the CMA CGM Tage would have been passing through the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
UKMTO didn’t name the carrier. However, it said there were reports of up to three explosions one to five nautical miles from a merchant carrier.
Later, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X, previously known as Twitter, that “Iranian-backed Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen into the southern Red Sea.” It added that multiple commercial ships in the area reported the impact of the missiles into the surrounding water though none reported any damage.
This was the 24th attack by the Houthis against merchant shipping in the southern Red Sea since November 19, according to CENTCOM.
The U.S. responded to recent Houthi attacks by launching Operation Prosperity Guardian on December 18 to “ensure the safety of maritime traffic” in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandab and Gulf of Aden.
On December 31, helicopters of the U.S.-led coalition sank three boats of the Houthis that attacked a container ship off Yemen’s shores, killing at least ten fighters. The deadly engagement heightened tensions between Washington and the Houthis.
