Two US-flagged container ships under the protection of the US Navy were forced to retreat from a passage of the Red Sea after coming under fire from Houthi terrorists on Wednesday.

The US-flagged container ships Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake were supposed to enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and transit the Red Sea under the protection of the US Navy. The US Navy has done this once before. On January 10, a convoy of four US-flagged ships carrying military cargo passed through the Red Sea. It came under a complex attack of 18 suicide drones, two anti-ship cruise missiles, and one anti-ship ballistic missile. The convoy was successfully completed without damage or casualties.

READ: Houthis Launch Largest Attack So Far Targeting American-Flagged Merchant Ships With American Sailors

This time, the story had a different ending.

Let's recap.

The two US ships were engaged well outside the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. They were under the air defense protection of the USS Gravely. The USS Gravely is part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group and has been operating in the Red Sea. It appears to have been detached to escort the two container ships through the Strait. This map shows the approximate position of the ships at the time of the engagement.

1/The turning around of the US-flagged containerships MV Maersk Detroit and Maersk Chesapeake should be a warning sign for the @DeptofDefense.

This indicates that even ships with the 🇺🇸 flag can be thwarted by the #Houthi. pic.twitter.com/8gIb8VnMWn

— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴‍☠️ (@mercoglianos) January 25, 2024

The Houthis fired three anti-ship ballistic missiles. The USS Gravely shot down two of them. The third impacted just a few hundred meters from the Maersk Detroit. The Navy ordered the two ships to return to a safe holding area off Oman. Rather than continue the transit, Maersk ordered its ships to pack it in.

Maersk suspends US-flag operations in Red Sea after two ships targeted https://t.co/x8ikjZXv27

— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴‍☠️ (@mercoglianos) January 24, 2024

BACKGROUND:

Red Sea Security Coalition Melts Down As Member Nations Refuse to Accept US Leadership

Yemen's Houthis Were So Terrified by Biden's Attack That They've Started Attacking US Ships Again

Biden's Red Sea Strategy Hits High Gear As Insurers Drop US Ships and Suez Traffic Reaches Pandemic Lows

Biden Decides One Strategic Failure in the Red Sea Isn't Enough So He Creates a Second One

The Iranians have moved their intelligence ship, MV Behshad, from inside the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Given the Houthis' target acquisition capabilities, Iran almost certainly provided the targeting information on the Maersk Detroit. At some point, this ship needs to suffer an unfortunate accident.

🇮🇷MV BEHSHAD - IRGC INTELLIGENCE VESSEL🇮🇷
Spotted on Sentinel 2 on 10 Jan 2024, prior to transiting the Bab al-Mandeb (southbound). She popped up again on @fleetmon just east of Djibouti in the Gulf of Aden and last pinged at (02:27UTC 12 Jan 2024). pic.twitter.com/5QxYyMDUEf

— MT Anderson (@MT_Anderson) January 12, 2024

While the Houthis didn't hit anything, they clearly won the engagement. The Navy ordered its charges out of the area, and the convoy to Suez was scrubbed. Maersk has suspended US-flagged operations in the area, which is hardly a vote of confidence.

The image of the US Navy turning tail is not going to help the security situation in the Red Sea. The Houthis have shown they can shut down two maritime chokepoints, that they can stop the US Navy from running a convoy through the Red Sea, and that the US is literally afraid to do very much about it. Unless something changes, Biden may have managed to turn a mere defeat into a strategic debacle on the scale of Afghanistan.