Coalition forces shoot down Houthi missile fired at Maersk vessel

US Central Command (Centcom) said a coalition vessel successfully engaged an anti-ship ballistic missile fired from Houthi controlled Yemen into the Gulf of Aden at 11:51am local time on 24 April.

It said the missile likely targeted the US-flagged Maersk Yorktown, which is part the Danish’s company’s US-owned fleet under Maersk Line Ltd. US Centcom said the vessel had a crew 18 US and four Greek nationals.

“There were no injuries or damage reported by US, coalition, or commercial ships,” it said.

Yahya Sare’e, spokesperson for the Yemini Armed Forces claimed a number of missiles targeted the Maersk Yorktown and “the hit was accurate”.

The Houthis also claimed to have targeted the MSC Veracruz in the Gulf of Aden with a number of drones. The Houthi spokesperson claimed MSC Veracruz as an Israeli ship, while the Equasis database lists its ownership as via MSC Shipmanagement in Cyprus.

The number of attacks has reduced in recent weeks, but this could be in part due to the majority of vessels that would normally ply the region on voyages between Asia – Europe/Med/US East Coast diverting via the Cape of Good Hope.

Some companies such as CMA CGM continue to transit the Red Sea on a case-by-case basis assessing the risk to each individual vessel.

Related:Houthi missile attacks a paradigm shift in security threat to shipping

US Centcom said it also successfully engaged and destroyed four airborne unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) over Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

“It was determined that the ASBM and UAVs presented an imminent threat to US, coalition, and merchant vessels in the region,” it said.