Published December 31, 2023
Maersk, one of the largest shipping companies in the world, suspended all container ship sailings in the Southern Red Sea after Iranian-backed Houthi militants attacked one of its vessels. This comes a day after the shipper reportedly attempted to restart sails in the critical waterway under the US’ Operational Prosperity Guardian security umbrella.
US Central Command wrote in a post on X that the Maersk Hangzhou container ship was struck by a missile while transiting the Southern Red Sea. The vessel requested assistance from the US military, to which two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, USS Gravely (DDG 107) and USS Laboon (DDG 58), responded.
“While responding, the USS GRAVELY shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the ships,” CENTCOM said, adding this is the 23rd “illegal attack” by Houthi rebels on commercial vessels on the critical waterway since Nov. 19.
https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/1741259817602429357?s=20
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SOURCE: www.zerohedge.com
RELATED: UK `considering air strikes´ on Houthi rebels to stop Red Sea attacks – reports
Published December 31, 2023
Britain is reportedly considering air strikes on Houthi rebels after the US said its navy sank three boats that had been targeting a container ship in the Red Sea.
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government would not hesitate to take “direct action” to prevent further attacks amid reports the UK and US are preparing a joint statement to issue a final warning to the Yemeni group.
It comes after the US military said four boats from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen fired at the Maersk Hangzhou and got within metres of the vessel as US helicopters fired back.
Several of the armed boat crews were killed, the US Central Command (Centcom) said. No-one was injured on the ship.
https://x.com/grantshapps/status/1741433900222586987?s=20
Writing in the Telegraph newspaper, Mr Shapps said the UK “won’t hesitate to take further action to deter threats to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea”.
“The Houthis should be under no misunderstanding: We are committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks,” he said.
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SOURCE: www.dailymail.co.uk
RELATED: Houthi Rebels Finally Find Out After U.S. Navy Retaliates During Tanker Attack
Published December 31, 2023
After months of inaction aside from defensive shootdowns of drones and missiles, the United States Navy has finally started to take more direct action against the Houthi rebels terrorizing the Red Sea.
As RedState has previously reported, the Yemini terrorist group has been attacking and hi-jacking merchant ships following the October 7th attack by Hamas on Israel.
On Sunday, a Maersk tanker came under fire, with an attempt to board being fought off by onboard security forces. That’s when U.S. Navy SH-60 helicopters arrived on the scene, sinking three Houthi vessels, killing multiple terrorists, and generally giving them something to think about regarding future attacks.
https://x.com/Osint613/status/1741392279804227952?s=20
I do not think this is the start of full-scale hostilities against the Houthis, though that’s how it’s been played by more sensationalist social media accounts online. Rather, this feels like a defensive strike to keep the shipping lanes open. With that said, it is an escalation because, before this point, the Houthis were largely being given a pass to board ships and film cosplaying videos where they pretended to be operators.
What took Joe Biden so long? That’s a question that everyone should be asking. There was never any real risk in blowing these terrorists out of the water because the Houthis have no real capability to respond. Their most offensive weapons are still cold-war technology missiles that the U.S. Navy has the technology to easily defeat. So why let them run rampant for over two months when this could have been settled very early on?
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SOURCE: www.redstate.com
