Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk has decided to temporarily halt all container shipments through the Red Sea following an attack on one of its vessels and increased threats posed by Houthi militants in the region, according to Reuters and Bloomberg.
In a statement, the company announced that, due to a "near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today," all Maersk ships bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait will be instructed to pause their journeys until further notice.
A missile strike targeted Maersk Gibraltar on Thursday while it was en route from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Fortunately, the crew and vessel remained unharmed.
Denying claims made by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement that they had attacked a Maersk vessel sailing towards Israel, the company expressed deep concerns about the security situation in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
Houthi militants have been launching attacks on merchant shipping in the Red Sea, particularly those they believe are connected to Israel, as a response to the ongoing Gaza conflict. The Bab al-Mandab stretch of water acts as a crucial link between the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, ultimately connecting with Egypt's Suez Canal.
Acknowledging that these recent attacks on commercial vessels in the area raise significant alarms and pose threats to the safety of seafarers, Maersk remains vigilant about the evolving security environment in the region.
