MAERSK GIBRALTAR

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Maersk ship attacked by missile

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility on Jan 4, 2024, for a drone attack on the 'Maersk Gibraltar' in the Red Sea. The missile fired at the 'Maersk Gibraltar' missed the ship and instead hit the water. Houthi spokesman Yahya Saree said the attack came after the ship’s crew “refused to respond to the calls of the Yemeni naval services,” and that it was intended as retaliation for the “oppression of the Palestinian people.” Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, the head of US Navy operations in the Middle East, said it was the first time the Houthis had used an unmanned surface vesse since their harassment of commercial ships in the Red Sea began after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said that a ballistic missile had been “fired from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen toward the international shipping lane north of the Bab-el-Mandeb,” the strait between Yemen and the Horn of Africa leading to the Red Sea. There were no injuries or damages to vessel. The Danish shipping company Maersk confirmed that no one was hurt in the incident involving its ship, which was sailing from Salalah to Jeddah. The company was still working to establish the facts of the incident.

Container ship attacked by Houthis

On Dec 14, 2023, the 'Maersk Gibraltar', en route from Salalah to Jeddah, was attacked by Houthi militans in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea. The Houthis claimed that they had managed to hit Maersk Gibraltar with a weapon fired from a drone. Maersk rejected that. The missile was launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen. The missile struck the sea 50 meters from the ship's port side. Before the attack, the ship was ordered by Houthis to change course and sail into Yemeni waters. The USA is currently investigating the possibilities of putting together a multinational naval force that can protect civilian shipping in the Red Sea.

Record heroin seizure in Felixstowe

The British authorities have seized a record amount of heroin in the port of Felixstove aboard the "Maersk Gibraltar" on Aug 30. 2ß10. According to the UK's National Crime Agency, the volume of nearly 1.3 tonnes was the largest ever seized in the country. The drugs were hidden in a container between towels and bathrobes. After the NCA and British Border Police removed the heroin, the container was again brought aboard the "Maersk Gibraltar", which continued to Antwerp, where it arrived on Sep 1. The container - closely monitored by Dutch and Belgian police - was taken to a warehouse in Rotterdam, where the police arrested four people who were emptying the container. The Maersk company proactively and openly cooperated with all relevant authorities.