The US military says it was responding to a second attack on the same vessel near Yemen in 24 hours.

The US Navy has destroyed Houthi “small boats” attempting to board a container ship in the Red Sea.

Four vessels from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen fired upon the Maersk Hangzhou and got to within metres of the ship, the US military said.

Helicopters from nearby US warships responded to a distress call and after being fired upon, sunk three of them “in self-defence”.

The crews were killed and the fourth boat fled the area.

The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November.

  • rbesfe@lemmy.caEnglish
    616·
    11 months ago

    I honestly feel a little bad for these pirates, imagine being so deluded and uneducated that you think shooting at a US navy helicopter is a good idea

    • Ashyr@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1926·
      11 months ago

      Imagine being so desperate. I don’t have sympathy for their actions, but let’s not pretend we’d fair any better under similar circumstances.

      • DoomBot5@lemmy.worldEnglish
        455·
        11 months ago

        These aren’t the normal Somali pirates we’ve seen in previous years. These are Iran-backed terrorists following orders.

        • kool_newt@lemm.eeEnglish
          33·
          11 months ago

          Imagine being screwed over by the U.S. for decades and now their puppet is genociding your brothers. Not everyone is ok with sitting and waiting their turn to be destroyed. I back the people, never the governments.

    • ZapBeebz_@lemmy.worldEnglish
      616·
      11 months ago

      The one surefire way to trigger an overwhelming US military response is to shoot down one of our helos. So unless they want the entire Somali Yemeni coast glassed (which, to be fair, they might as part of a larger geopolitical strategy), they would have to be very stupid to shoot at a USN helicopter.

      ETA: corrected location; my bad

            • Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.worldEnglish
              5·
              11 months ago

              I don’t know, any national government that encourages chants such as “Death to America” and has been attacking Americans since the late 70s isn’t very high on my friend list. They also have been supplying Russia with military aid against Ukraine, so fuck Iran.

              Iran also let a couple of long range drones off the chain last week and attacked some random shipping near India in the Arabian Sea. They don’t seem like the best of neighbors even to nominally neutral countries. But hey maybe random acts of violence are your thing.

              If you have no issues with Iran perhaps you should go visit and report back on what you find. It would be great to get an independent opinion.

              I’m sure you would make some great YouTube content. Just don’t be a pussy and ask for rescue if your trip goes south. I’d like to see you fully commit to this one.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    7·
    11 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    The Iranian-backed Yemeni rebel group have claimed its attacks on the vital shipping lane are directed at vessels linked to Israel, in response to the war in Gaza.

    The four Houthi boats attacked at around 06:30 Yemeni time (03:30 GMT) with mounted weapons and small arms, getting to within 20m (66ft) of the container ship, which the crew “attempted to board”.

    Separately, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation reported an incident in the Red Sea about 55 nautical miles (101km) to the south-west of the Yemeni port of Hodeidah.

    The rise in Houthi attacks over several weeks has led many shipping firms, including Maersk, to divert their vessels away from the Red Sea, travelling around the horn of Africa instead.

    To reach the Suez Canal in Egypt - which connects to the Mediterranean Sea - ships must pass through the tiny Bab al-Mandab Strait, just off the coast of Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen.

    Maersk said last week that it was preparing to resume journeys through Red Sea - after diverting to the much longer route around the Cape of Good Hope because of recent Houthi attacks on shipping.

    The original article contains 769 words, the summary contains 190 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!