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Attacks on the MV Maersk Hangzhou | |||||||
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Part of the Operation Prosperity Guardian and the Red Sea crisis | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Yemen (SPC) | United States | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Abdul-Malik al-Houthi [ citation needed ] | Marc Miguez [2] | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
Four fast attack craft [3] Coastal missile batteries | One freighter One aircraft carrier Two destroyers | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Three fast attack craft sunk 10 killed [4] | One civilian freighter damaged |
On 30 December 2023, Houthi forces in the Gulf of Aden attacked the Maersk commercial vessel Maersk Hangzhou. Early the next day, Houthis again attacked the Maersk Hangzhou, attempting to board the freighter. The Maersk Hangzhou made a distress signal, to which U.S. Navy forces of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and destroyer USS Gravely responded. The U.S., along with Maersk security personnel aboard the ship, repelled the attack. The U.S. sank three Houthi vessels, killing ten Houthis. Maersk announced a 48-hour pause on shipping through the Red Sea following the incident. [1]
With the start of the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, the Houthi-controlled Supreme Political Council declared its support for Hamas and began launching airstrikes on commercial ships transiting the Red Sea, especially in the Bab el-Mandeb, the narrow strait that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. [5] While the Houthis initially claimed to be targeting only commercial ships bound for Israeli ports or with some link to Israel, [6] they soon began indiscriminately targeting vessels, attempting airstrikes on ships with no discernible Israeli ties. [6] [7] The Maersk Hangzhou had previously docked in Haifa, Israel multiple times including most recently in October 2023. However, it was not bound for Israel when it was attacked. Currently, its destination at the time of the attack is unknown. [8] To launch attacks on Red Sea shipping, the Houthis use coastal missile batteries, loitering munitions, and fast attack craft armed with light autocannons, machine guns and anti-tank missiles. [9] Before the airstrike on the Maersk Hangzhou, the United States had shot down Houthi missiles and drones and deployed naval ships to protect Red Sea shipping lanes, but had not engaged directly with the Houthis (who act as an Iranian proxies). [10]
The Houthi airstrikes caused Maersk, a major international shipping company, to announce on 15 December that its ships would suspend operations through the Red Sea (and then the Suez Canal) and instead would transit around the Cape of Good Hope. [5] [11] In response to the Houthi airstrikes, the United States government announced Operation Prosperity Guardian, a U.S. Navy-led multilateral naval operation undertaken by Combined Task Force 153 to protect shipping. [12] With the increase in security provided by Operation Prosperity Guardian, Maersk announced on 29 December 2023, that its shipping operations would resume transiting the Red Sea. [13] As an incentive for the crew members of ships making such transits, Maersk announced its crews passing through the Red Sea would receive double pay. [14] The MV Maersk Hangzhou, a Danish-owned, Singapore-flagged ship, [4] was one of the first Maersk vessels to transit the Red Sea after the company resumed operations in the area. [15]
For increased protection, the Maersk Hangzhou had aboard a team of armed private security contractors as it transited the Red Sea. [4] The U.S. also stationed its Carrier Strike Group 2 in the Red Sea as part of Operation Prosperity Guardian; this carrier strike group consisted of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower and its escorting Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, USS Laboon and USS Gravely. [16] In the ten days after the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian, naval vessels had shot down 17 drones and 4 anti-ship ballistic missiles, and approximately 1,200 merchant ships traveled through the Red Sea without any drone or missile strikes. [5]
As the Maersk Hangzhou sailed through the Red Sea on 30 December 2023, it received airstrikes by Houthi missile batteries with at least one missile hitting the ship at approximately 8:30 P.M. local time. [17] Responding to a distress call from the Maersk Hangzhou, the U.S. Navy destroyers USS Laboon and USS Gravely sailed to the scene, and the latter successfully intercepted two anti-ship ballistic missiles. [17] [4]
The next day, the Maersk Hangzhou was approached by four Houthi skiffs armed with mounted weapons. At approximately 6:30 A.M. local time (03:30 GMT), the Houthi squadron sailed within 20 meters (66 ft) of the Maersk Hangzhou, fired upon the Maersk Hangzhou using both crew-served weapons and small arms, and attempted to board the ship and seize it. [4] The freighter's security contractors then engaged the Houthis while the freighter again issued a distress call. [4] MH-60R helicopters from the Gravely and the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower were then dispatched to the scene. [4] On arriving they were engaged by the Houthi squadron. The American helicopters returned fire, sinking three of the Houthi craft and killing their crews. The fourth Houthi boat managed to escape. [4] There was no damage to U.S. personnel or equipment, and no injuries to the crew of the Maersk Hangzhou. [18]
The U.S. Central Command said that the Houthis' assault on the Maersk Hangzhou was the 23rd "illegal attack by the Houthis on international shipping" since 19 November 2023. [15] The Houthis acknowledged ten of its members were killed in the engagement. [4] The Maersk Hangzhou was able to continue its journey north to Port Suez under its own power. The day after the engagement on the Maersk Hangzhou, Maersk announced that it was once again suspending its operations through the Red Sea for at least 48 hours. [11] [1] [16] On 2 January, Maersk announced that it had "decided to pause all transits through the Red Sea / Gulf of Aden until further notice"; three days later, the company confirmed that "all Maersk vessels due to transit the Red Sea / Gulf of Aden will be diverted south around the Cape of Good Hope for the foreseeable future." [11]
On 4 January, the U.S. and its allies (Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, and the UK) issued a "final warning" to the Houthis in a joint statement, calling for "the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews" and stating "The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region's critical waterways." [19] British Foreign Secretary David Cameron, in a telephone call to Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said that the UK held Iran responsible for halting airstrikes on commercial ships in the Red Sea, given Iran's "longstanding support to the Houthis"; Grant Shapps, the UK's defense minister, said that Britain would consider "direct action" against the Houthis to prevent future "unlawful seizures and attacks" in the Red Sea. [20]
On 7 January, the Houthis demanded that all commercial ships denounce Israel or face attack; they also vowed more retaliatory attacks against the U.S. Navy. [21]
USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69) is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier currently in service with the United States Navy. Commissioned in 1977, the ship is the second of ten Nimitz-class aircraft carriers currently in service, and is the first ship named after the 34th President of the United States and General of the Army, Dwight D. Eisenhower. The vessel was initially named simply as USS Eisenhower, much like the lead ship of the class, Nimitz, but the name was changed to its present form on 25 May 1970. The carrier, like all others of her class, was constructed at Newport News Shipbuilding Company in Virginia, with the same design as the lead ship, although the ship has been overhauled twice to bring her up to the standards of those constructed more recently.
USS Laboon (DDG-58) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named for Father John Francis Laboon (1921–1988), a captain in the Chaplain Corps of the United States Navy, who was awarded the Silver Star during World War II while serving on the submarine USS Peto.
USS Carney (DDG-64) is the 14th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. The guided-missile destroyer is the first to be named after Admiral Robert Carney, who served as Chief of Naval Operations during the Eisenhower administration.
USS Mason (DDG-87) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named in honor of the Black crewmembers who served on board USS Mason (DE-529) during the period of racial segregation in the United States Armed Forces.
HMS Diamond is the third ship of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence guided missile destroyers built for the Royal Navy. She was launched in 2007, and completed her contractor's sea trials and arrived at her base port in 2010. Diamond formally entered service in 2011.
USS Gravely (DDG-107) is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named after Vice Admiral Samuel L. Gravely Jr. Commissioned in 2010, she has been on several overseas deployments.
An anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) is a military ballistic missile system designed to hit a warship at sea.
INS Visakhapatnam is the lead ship and the first of the Visakhapatnam-class stealth guided-missile destroyers of the Indian Navy. The ship, commissioned on 21 November 2021, is one of the largest destroyers in service with the Indian Navy.
Events in the year 2023 in Yemen.
The Red Sea crisis began on 19 October 2023, when the Iran-backed Houthi movement in Yemen launched missiles and armed drones at Israel, demanding an end to the invasion of the Gaza Strip. The Houthis have since seized and launched aerial attacks against dozens of merchant and naval vessels in the Red Sea, drawing hundreds of air strikes on missile sites and other targets by US and allied forces. The crisis is linked to the Israel–Hamas war, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict, the Iran–United States proxy conflict, and the Yemeni crisis.
Events in the year 2024 in Yemen.
Operation Prosperity Guardian is a United States-led military operation by a multinational coalition formed in December 2023 to respond to Houthi-led attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
Maersk Hangzhou is an H-class container ship operated by Maersk Line. It is Singapore-flagged and is owned by Moller Singapore Asia-Pacific, a subsidiary of the Maersk company. The ship was attacked by Houthi fighters during the Red Sea Crisis on 30 December 2023.
These are monthly timelines of the Red Sea crisis, which began on 19 October 2023.
Since 12 January 2024, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, have launched a series of cruise missile and airstrikes, codenamed Operation Poseidon Archer, against the Houthi movement in Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea. The Houthis had previously declared that their attacks are in support of Palestinians during the Israel–Hamas war; Houthi attacks on shipping were condemned by the United Nations Security Council the day before the initial strike.
MV True Confidence is a Barbados-flagged bulk carrier managed by Third January Maritime, a Greek company, and owned by True Confidence Shipping, a Liberian shipping company. The vessel was attacked on 6 March 2024, causing the first civilian casualties of Houthi attacks on merchant shipping during the Red Sea crisis.
2024 in piracy included 33 reports of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships to the International Maritime Bureau during the first quarter of the year. Incidents included 24 vessels boarded, six of which experienced attempted attacks; two hijacked; and one fired upon. Crew continued to suffer violence, with 35 seafarers taken hostage, nine kidnapped, and one threatened during the first three months of the year.
On 30 May 2024, the United States and United Kingdom conducted a joint set of airstrikes in Sanaa and Hodeidah, Yemen, killing 16 people and injuring 42. The United States and United Kingdom claimed that the strikes were targeting members of the Houthi rebel group; however, the Houthis claimed all those killed or injured in the strikes were civilians.
On 12 June 2024, the Yemeni Houthi movement attacked the MV Tutor, a Liberia-flagged bulk carrier, in the southern Red Sea with an unmanned surface vehicle (USV) and an anti-ship missile, killing one crewmember. The vessel was seriously damaged, and later abandoned by her crew. She sank six days after the attacks. The attacks mark the first successful usage of a USV and the second sinking by the Houthis in the Red Sea crisis.