Shipping firms suspend Red Sea traffic after Yemen rebel strikes

Dubai (AFP) - Two of the world's largest shipping firms, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, said they were suspending passage through a Red Sea strait vital for global commerce, after Yemeni rebel attacks.

The Iran-backed Huthis, who control much of Yemen but are not recognised internationally, say they're targeting shipping to pressure Israel during its two-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.

The maritime tensions have added to fears that the Gaza conflict could spread.

German transport company Hapag-Lloyd said it was halting Red Sea container ship traffic until December 18, after the Huthis attacked one of its vessels. "Hapag-Lloyd is interrupting all container ship traffic across the Red Sea until Monday," the company said.

The Danish firm Maersk made a similar announcement:

"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," it said.

Maersk said this followed a "near-miss incident involving

Maersk Gibraltar yesterday" as well as Friday's attack, in which the rebels struck a Hapag-Lloyd cargo ship in the Red Sea.

A US defence official identified it as the Liberia-flagged

Al-Jasrah, a 368-metre container ship built in 2016. "Something launched from a Huthi-controlled region of Yemen struck this vessel which was damaged," the official said.

A Hapag-Lloyd spokesman said: "There has been an attack on one of our ships."

It was en route from the Greek port of Piraeus to Singapore. There were no casualties and the ship was travelling onward to its destination.

Huthi military 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".

The Huthis said they "will prevent the passage" of ships heading to Israel -- regardless of ownership -- if food and medicine are not allowed into besieged, Hamas-ruled Gaza.

Brigadier General Tariq Muhammad Abdullah Saleh (L), member of the Presidential Leadership Council in Yemen's internationally-recognised government, observes coastguard members patrolling in the Red Sea. (AFP)