Houthi gunmen attack Maersk Hangzhou ship in Red Sea

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said that the US helicopters sank three boats carrying Houthi gunmen who attacked a container ship that was transiting the Red Sea.

A US warship also shot down two ballistic missiles fired from Yemen, The Times of Israel reports citing the US military.

It said that at 6:30 a.m. local time, the Maersk Hangzhou, a Singapore-flagged, Denmark-owned and -operated container ship issued a second distress call after earlier reporting that it was hit by a missile.

The ship signaled that it was under attack by “four Iranian-backed Houthi small boats” CENTCOM posted on X, formerly Twitter.

It said the boats fired small arms at the Maersk Hangzhou, approached to within 20 metres of the vessel, and tried to board it. A contract-embarked security team returned fire at the Houthis.

Helicopters from the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely responded to the distress call and “issued verbal calls to the small boats.” However, the small boats then fired at the helicopters with small arms.

“The US Navy helicopters returned fire in self-defence, sinking three of the four small boats, and killing the crews. The fourth boat fled the area. There was no damage to US personnel or equipment,” the statement said.