The Houthis targeted another container vessel of Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) on 24 June.
Houthi spokesperson Saree Yahya said on the Iran-backed rebel group’s television channel that a “new missile” was fired at the 2000-built Liberia-flagged 4,657 TEU MSC Sarah V in the Arabian Sea, on 24 June.
UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) stated that MSC Sarah V’s master reported an explosion close to the ship, while it was 246 nautical miles southeast of Nishtun, Yemen.
UKMTO said, “The crew is reported safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call. Authorities are investigating.”
The Combined Forces’ Joint Maritime Information Center said that MSC Sarah V managed to dodge the missile. No damage to the vessel occurred.
Vessel-tracking data from EconDB shows that MSC Sarah V, which is assigned to MSC’s Indian Subcontinent-US East Coast (Indusa) service, had departed Panama’s Colon port on 27 May and is due to arrive in Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa port on 28 June.
Although Saree claimed that MSC Sarah V was attacked because it is an “Israeli” ship, EconDB’s data shows that the vessel is owned by MSC.
The attempted attack on MSC Sarah V comes nearly three weeks after fire broke out on MSC Tavvishi, following a missile assault on 8 June.
MSC has moved all Israel-linked ships away from the Persian Gulf, following the capture of MSC Aries by Iranian forces in April. While MSC Aries’ crew has been released, the ship remains detained in Iran.
On 26 April, one of MSC’s chartered ships, the 15,000 TEU MSC Orion, which is chartered from an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime that is controlled by Israeli tycoon Eyal Ofer, was attacked by a long-range Houthi drone in the Indian Ocean.
Another of MSC’s ships, 6,078 TEU MSC Darwin VI, was attacked by Houthis twice, on separate occasions in April.
Martina Li
Asia Correspondent
