Yemen’s Houthi militants claimed an attack on an MSC containership in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday.
The Liberian-flagged MSC Darwin VI was targeted by a number of missiles and drones, a spokesperson for the Houthis said in a televised address yesterday.
The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said a captain from an unnamed ship reported hearing a loud bang and seeing a splash and smoke coming from the sea around 15 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Aden.
EOS Risk Group’s head of advisory Martin Kelly noted the MSC Darwin VI “ticked several boxes from a Houthi targeting perspective” as being controlled by US Military Sea Lift Command.
The 6,078 teu boxship was sailing from Aden to Djibouti and, according to MarineTraffic data, made it to its destination.
The UKMTO added that the crew and vessel were safe, and supported by the military.
The Houthis resumed their attacks on shipping Wednesday after a break of more than two weeks, targeting another US military-linked vessel, Maersk Yorktown, and what they described as the Israeli ship MSC Veracruz. More than 80 attacks on merchant ships have been claimed since November last year.