“Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar 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.
Maersk said its vessel was targeted by a missile while travelling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and that the crew and vessel were reported safe.
Earlier on Friday Maersk denied a claim by Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement that the militia had struck a Maersk vessel sailing towards Israel.
“The vessel was not hit,” a Maersk spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement following the Houthi claim.