Maersk Stops Container Ship Traffic Through the Red Sea

Danish shipping company A.P. Moller-Maersk has asked all its container shipments to avoid the Red Sea route until further notice, Reuters reported, quoting a company spokesperson.

“Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice,” the company said in a statement.

The move has come amid reports that the ships that take these routes are being targeted by Houthi militants. Maersk on Thursday announced that its vessel Gilbraltar was confronted with a missile attack while traveling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The company, however, denied Yemen”s Iran-aligned Houthi movement”s claim that they hit a Maersk vessel that was sailed towards Israel, saying “the vessel was not hit,” according to the report.

Houthis had claimed that they launched a military operation against a Maersk container vessel with drones despite not providing any substantiated evidence. Maersk raised concerns about the severity of the situation in the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, saying “the recent attacks on commercial vessels in the area are alarming and pose a significant threat to the safety and security of seafarers.”