USA

USS Carney reports that multiple commercial ships have been attacked in the Red Sea

Published

1 year ago

December 3, 2023

US officials did not identify where the military fire came from, although they added that Carney shot down at least one drone on Sunday. Yemen’s Houthi rebels, who have proclaimed they would attack ships on the Red Sea over Israel’s ground incursion into Gaza, later acknowledged that they had targeted two Israeli commercial ships on Sunday but did not mention the US Navy vessel.

The rebel group claimed it had aimed for two commercial vessels, the Unity Explorer and Number Nine, because the ships failed to heed warnings to get out of the region. At least one commercial vessel was known to be hit on Sunday, a boat belonging to a British company owned by Danny Ungar, the son of Israeli shipping magnate Rami Ungar.

Before last week’s attack, the USS Carney had downed 15 drones and four cruise missiles in the Red Sea fired from Yemen. The ship had been sailing near the Bab el-Mandeb Strait at last week’s attack, but there was no damage to the Carney or its crew. The USS Carney previously engaged with the rebel group on Wednesday when it took out a drone launched from Yemen.

On Sunday, the assault against the USS Carney and two commercial ships lasted about five hours. Last week, Houthi rebels fired two ballistic missiles in the vicinity of the USS Mason as the warship responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker being attacked by Somali pirates. Central Park was invaded by gunmen who fled when the Mason arrived. The Mason chased the attackers to the shores of Yemen. Houthi rebels fired the missiles near the Mason, with the explosives missing the ship and landing along the Gulf of Aden.

The attack against the USS Carney and other commercial ships operating in the Red Sea came as the British military said a suspected drone attack and explosion had been carried out in the area. The attack has raised concerns about the safety of commercial shipping in the region and could lead to increased tensions in the Middle East.