Danish shipping company Maersk has denied a claim by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement that the militia carried out a drone strike on a Maersk vessel sailing towards Israel, Reuters reports.
The Houthis earlier claimed it carried out a military operation against a Maersk container vessel, directly hitting it with a drone. The Houthis, who made the claim in a statement, did not release any evidence.
Maersk on Thursday said the ship Maersk Gibraltar was targeted by a missile while travelling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and that the crew and vessel were reported safe.
“The vessel was not hit,” a Maersk spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement following the Houthi claim.
The incident took place near the Bad al-Mandab Strait linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, where Yemen’s Houthis on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a missile attack on a Norwegian chemical tanker.
A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Houthis shot at the Maersk vessel but missed and were unsuccessful in forcing the ship to stop. The official added that US forces were not in area at the time of the incident.
