GMM Safety | 2024-03-06 | Case Accidents |

A fire was sparked aboard a merchant ship, “MSC SKY II,” following a Houthi missile strike when it was transiting the Gulf of Aden. Fortunately, no one was reported to be injured.

Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree claimed that they had targeted the MSC SKY II in the Arabian Sea. He claimed that the Houthis had hit the Israeli ship with several suitable naval missiles.

The MSC SKY II is a Liberian-flagged 21,583-gross-ton boxship that was built in 1999. It is 183 m long and has a width of 30m.

According to Ambrey and Vanguard, which are two prominent maritime security consultancies based in the UK, the sub-Panama boxship was hit by the missile, and subsequently, a fire was sparked on board.

Reports from the ship itself stated that they were targeted by two missiles, one of which hit the water off the vessel’s port quarter, and the second missile struck the ship’s accommodation block, lighting a fire with the blast.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) states that the maritime security coalition’s ships are in the area and are investigating the matter.

Some analysts have speculated that one of the top shareholders of the shipping company MSC was born in Israel and that the Houthi Force are targeting MSC’s ships more aggressively due to this connection. Houthi  have repeatedly asserted that their campaign against shipping in the Red Sea is to disrupt Israeli commerce and apply political pressure so that Israel halts its operations in Gaza

The Indian Navy swiftly responds to a Maritime Accident in GulfofAden. INSKolkata, mission deployed in the region for maritime security operations, promptly responded and arrived at scene of incident by 2230h. A specialised firefighting team of 12 personnel from INSKolkata embarked the vessel early morning hours of 05 Mar to assist in firefighting efforts. Specialist EOD Team also embarked the vessel and provided assistance in residual risk assessment.