US Navy helicopters repel Houthi attack on Maersk container ship in Red Sea ABC News

Iranian-backed Houthi militants have attacked a Maersk container vessel, prompting the global shipping company to pause all sailing through the Red Sea for 48 hours, it said on Sunday.

Key points:

The US military says Houthi militants attacked the Maersk Hangzhou vessel in the Red Sea on Saturday

US Navy helicopters destroyed three of four small boats used by the militants to attack the vessel, with the fourth escaping

The militants have been targeting ships in the Red Sea to show support for Hamas, which is fighting Israel in Gaza

The attack was the latest by Houthi militants in Yemen, who have been targeting vessels in the Red Sea to show their support for Palestinian Islamist group Hamas fighting Israel in Gaza.

US Navy helicopters sank three of four small boats used by the militants to attack the Maersk Hangzhou vessel in the southern Red Sea late on Saturday, the US military said.

The crew onboard the Maersk ship reported a flash on deck at around 6:30pm local time, when the vessel was 55 nautical miles south-west of Al Hodeidah, Maersk said.

Helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely, responding to distress calls from Maersk Hangzhou, returned fire on the Houthi boats in self-defence and sank three of the vessels, with no survivors, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on X.

The fourth boat fled the area, CENTCOM said.

The Maersk Hangzhou crew was safe and there was no indication of fire onboard the vessel, which was fully manoeuvrable and continued its journey north to Port Suez, Maersk said.

The Singapore-flagged vessel, which has the capacity to carry 14,000 containers was en route from Singapore.

Australia to send personnel but no warship to Red Sea

The United States had issued a request to 39 countries that are members of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) to bolster efforts to keep the critical shipping route open.

Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea have disrupted world trade over the past two months, with major shipping companies taking the longer and costlier route around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope rather than sailing through the Suez Canal.

The Red Sea is the entry point for ships using the Suez Canal, which handles about 12 per cent of global trade and is vital for the movement of goods between Asia and Europe.

The United States launched Operation Prosperity Guardian on December 19, saying more than 20 countries had agreed to participate in the effort to safeguard shipping in the area.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Sunday that he had told Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in a call that Iran should help stop the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea.

“I made clear that Iran shares responsibility for preventing these attacks, given their longstanding support to the Houthis,” Mr Cameron said on X, adding that the attacks “threaten innocent lives and the global economy”.

Reuters