explainer
Shipping company Maersk stops its operations after the maritime escalation between the Houthis and American forces.
The US military said it sank three Houthi ships in the Red Sea in a statement on Sunday, killing 10 fighters from the Yemeni armed group after a clash in the middle of one of the world's most important commercial waterways.
This escalation comes weeks after Houthi attacks on ships passing through the sea, ostensibly in an attempt to pressure Israel to stop its devastating war on Gaza, which has claimed the lives of more than 21,000 Palestinians in the besieged Strip.
US destroyers have teamed up with a few other countries to try to stop Houthi attacks in the Red Sea under Operation Prosperity Sentinel — though many of their partners have distanced themselves from the initiative.
The clash in the Red Sea on Monday was the first major direct military clash between the US military and Houthi fighters. Here's what we know about how it all looks:
What happened on Sunday?
On Sunday, at 6:30 a.m. Yemen time (03:30 GMT), the Danish-owned, Singapore-flagged container ship Maersk Hangzhou issued a second distress call in one day, reporting that it had been attacked by four “small Houthi boats,” the news agency reported. American centrality. The command (CENTCOM) posted on X. CENTCOM added that the Houthis attempted to board the Maersk ship, which was sailing through the southern Red Sea.
In response to this distress call, helicopters from two warships, the USS Eisenhower and the USS Gravely, flew toward the Maersk. US Central Command said the crew of the destroyer USS Gravely first shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired at the Maersk.
Why did the United States sink Houthi boats?
The US Navy said four small boats then attacked the same cargo ship with small arms fire and Houthi fighters attempted to board the ship. The US Navy said it then warned the fighters to stay away from the ship, and the helicopters then came under fire.
The helicopters returned fire, sinking three of the boats. The Houthi crew members were killed in the boats. The US Central Command added that the fourth boat escaped from the area, and the American personnel and equipment were not harmed.
A White House official said: “We will act in self-defense in the future.”
A Houthi spokesman confirmed that ten of their fighters were “dead and missing” after their boats were attacked.
Iranian-backed Houthi small boats attack a merchant ship and US Navy helicopters in the southern Red Sea
On December 31, at 6:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), the container ship Maersk Hangzhou issued a second distress call in less than 24 hours stating that it had been attacked by four Iranian-backed aircraft. pic.twitter.com/pj8NAzjbVF
– US Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 31, 2023
How did Maersk and other shipping companies react?
Maersk announced on Sunday that it would temporarily stop all cruises through the Red Sea for 48 hours. On December 27, dozens of container ships were scheduled to travel through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in the coming days and weeks.
Maersk, in cooperation with the German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, operates nearly a quarter of the global shipping fleet.
Other shipping companies have also responded to the escalating maritime conflict. Companies including CH Robinson, Evergreen, HMM, Ocean Network Express, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Yang Ming Marine Transport plan to avoid the Red Sea and increase the number of ships rerouting around Africa's Cape of Good Hope instead of the Suez Canal. This new route is longer and more expensive. Evergreen has also temporarily stopped accepting Israeli goods.
While these attacks have had a “fairly limited” impact on the oil market so far, experts expect prices could rise if the situation persists.
Why do the Houthis attack ships in the Red Sea?
The Iran-backed Houthis began launching drones and missiles toward southern parts of Israel in October, shortly after the outbreak of war on October 7.
However, the drones were intercepted or failed to carry out. In a change of tactic, the group began attacking ships in the Red Sea that it claimed were linked to Israel. Their attacks disabled several ships as they made their way to Israel.
On December 19, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the creation of a multinational maritime protection force to confront the Houthis. Despite this, the Houthis said they would not back down unless Israel stopped its war on Gaza.
Although the multinational coalition has agreed to support the US cause, only the UK has directly contributed warships, leaving Washington effectively “going it alone” against the Houthis, Al Jazeera’s Resul Sardar reported from Djibouti on the edge of the Red Sea. .
Sardar added that the United States “has not been able to deter the Houthis” so far, as the group frequently launches attacks. He added that the latest clash represents a dangerous escalation because the United States not only sank Houthi boats, but also killed Houthi fighters. Such confrontations raise fears of a regional escalation of the war that could drag Yemen into the conflict.
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