The US army mentioned that it sunk three Houthi vessels within the Purple Sea in an announcement on Sunday, and killed 10 fighters of the Yemeni armed group after a conflict in the course of one of many world’s most essential commerce waterways.
The escalation follows weeks of Houthi assaults on ships passing by the ocean, ostensibly in a bid to stress Israel to cease its devastating battle on Gaza that has killed greater than 21,000 Palestinians within the besieged strip.
US destroyers have teamed up with a couple of different nations to attempt to cease the Houthi assaults within the Purple Sea underneath Operation Prosperity Guardian — although a number of of its companions have distanced themselves from the initiative.
The Purple Sea conflict on Monday was the primary main direct army engagement between the US army and Houthi fighters. Here’s what we find out about the way it all unfolded:
What occurred on Sunday?
On Sunday at 6:30am Yemen time (03:30 GMT), the Denmark-owned and Singapore-flagged container ship Maersk Hangzhou issued a second misery name in a day, reporting being attacked by 4 “Houthi small boats”, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) posted on X. CENTCOM added that the Houthis tried to board the Maersk vessel that was crusing by the Southern Purple Sea.
In response to this misery name, helicopters from two warships, the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely, flew in direction of the Maersk ship. CENTCOM mentioned the crew of the USS Gravely destroyer first shot down two antiship ballistic missiles fired on the Maersk vessel.
Why did the US sink Houthi boats?
4 small boats then attacked the identical cargo ship with small arms hearth and Houthi fighters tried to board the vessel, the US Navy mentioned. The US Navy mentioned it then warned the fighters to keep away from the ship, at which level, the helicopters got here underneath hearth.
The helicopters fired again, sinking three of the boats. Houthi crew members within the boats had been killed. The fourth boat escaped the world and US personnel and gear didn’t bear hurt, CENTCOM added.
“We’re going to behave in self-defence going ahead,” a White Home official mentioned.
A spokesman for the Houthis confirmed that ten of their fighters had been “lifeless and lacking” after their boats had been attacked.
Iranian-backed Houthi small boats assault service provider vessel and U.S. Navy helicopters in Southern Purple Sea
On Dec. 31 at 6:30am (Sanaa time) the container ship MAERSK HANGZHOU issued a second misery name in lower than 24 hours reporting being underneath assault by 4 Iranian-backed… pic.twitter.com/pj8NAzjbVF
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) December 31, 2023
How have Maersk and different transport companies reacted?
Maersk introduced on Sunday that it was pausing all crusing by the Purple Sea for the subsequent 48 hours. On December 27, it had scheduled a number of dozen container vessels to journey by way of the Suez Canal and the Purple Sea within the coming days and weeks.
Along with German transport firm Hapag-Lloyd, Maersk operates nearly 1 / 4 of the world’s transport fleet.
Different transport companies have additionally responded to the escalating maritime battle. Companies together with CH Robinson, Evergreen, HMM, Ocean Community Categorical, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and Yang Ming Marine Transport are planning to keep away from the Purple Sea and enhance the variety of ships rerouting round Africa’s Cape of Good Hope quite than the Suez Canal. This new route is longer and costlier. Evergreen has additionally briefly stopped accepting Israeli cargo.
Whereas these assaults have had a “pretty restricted” influence on the oil market up to now, consultants postulate that costs might rise if the scenario continues.
Why are the Houthis attacking ships within the Purple Sea?
The Iran-backed Houthis started launching drones and missiles in direction of the southern components of Israel in October quickly after the battle broke out on October 7.
Nevertheless, the drones had been intercepted or fell brief. In a change of tactic, the group began attacking ships within the Purple Sea that they claimed had been linked to Israel. Their assaults have disrupted many ships for making their manner into Israel.
On December 19, US Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin introduced the institution of a multinational maritime protection force to counter the Houthis. Regardless of this, the Houthis have mentioned they’ll not back down except Israel ceases its battle on Gaza.
Regardless of a multinational coalition agreeing to help the US trigger, solely the UK has instantly contributed warships, leaving Washington to successfully “act alone” towards the Houthis, reviews Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar from Djibouti on the sting of the Purple Sea.
Serdar added that the US has “not been in a position to deter the Houthis” up to now, with the group waging attacks much more incessantly. He added that the most recent conflict marked a severe escalation as a result of the US not solely sunk Houthi boats but in addition killed Houthi fighters. Such confrontations are sparking fears of a regional escalation of the battle that might pull Yemen into the battle.
