Members of an investigation team take water samples during a visit by the cargo ship Rubymar off the coast of Yemen, March 23, 2024. (Credit: Khaled Ziad/AFP)
SANA'A — The Houthis said on Tuesday the group had mounted six attacks on ships with drones and missiles in the last 72 hours in the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
The Houthis attacked the Maersk Saratoga, APL Detroit, and the Huang Pu after identifying them as either US or British, in addition to Pretty Lady ship which they claim was heading to Israel, the group's military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said in a statement. Reuters reported sometime later that Denmark's Maersk had denied the group's claim that the shipping company's Saratoga vessel had been attacked.
Maersk Saratoga is part of Maersk Line, Limited (MLL), the Danish company's US subsidiary, which carries significant amounts of cargo for the Department of Defense, Department of State, USAID, and other US government agencies.
Sarea added that the group also attacked two US destroyers in the Red Sea as well as Israel's city of Eilat.
US Central Command said on Sunday that Houthis fired missiles in the vicinity of M/V Huang Pu, a Chinese-owned oil tanker.
According to LSEG data, APL Detroit is a Singaporean-flagged container, while Pretty Lady is a Malta-flagged handymax ship.
It was not immediately clear which if any of the targets were struck by the drones or missiles.
The Houthis, who control Yemen's capital and most populous areas, have attacked international shipping in the Red Sea since November in solidarity with Palestinians, drawing US and British retaliatory strikes starting earlier this year. Houthi attacks have killed three, while joint US-UK attacks on Yemen — purportedly in defense of international shipping — have killed dozens, according to the Houthis and the internationally recognized PLC government.
The Houthis' escalating drone and missile campaign against commercial shipping has choked trade through the vital Suez Canal linking Asia and Europe and forced many ships to take the longer route around Africa.