An old photo of a burning ship has been circulated with the false claim that a Yemeni anti-ship missile struck a ship belongong to the Israeli-linked Maersk company in the Red Sea.
Verified accounts on twitter, including Wajidkhan (“@realwajidkhan“) tweeted “Yemen’s Houthis have destroyed the Israeli Maersk Geblatir container ship with a drone attack.” on Dec 15, 2023. The post has received an about 24.3k views on X, contributing to the spread of the information.
#ब्रेकिंग
— Wajidkhan (@realwajidkhan) December 15, 2023
यमन के हौथिस ने ड्रोन से हमला करके इजरायली मेर्स्क गेबलाटिर कंटेनर जहाज को धवस्त कर दिया है।। pic.twitter.com/y0vic6jeCk
Several other accounts, including @drhossamsamy65, Resistance Monitor (“@Moqawamah_e“), Angelo Giuliano (“@angeloinchina“), NEXTA (“@nexta_tv“), Globe Eye News (“@GlobeEyeNews“) @ZAINABALI_72 also made the same claim that in the Red Sea, a Yemeni anti-ship missile struck a ship that belonged to the Israeli-linked Maersk company. The archive can be read from above.
What is the Actual Truth About this Incident? : Fact
This is an old photo of the fire on the Maersk Honam that occurred in March 2018 while the ship was sailing in the Arabian Sea. The fire killed the lives of five crew members.
An article was published on May 31, 2018 regarding this incident with the headline “Maersk has started unloading containers from the burned container ship”. This shows that the incident is not recent.
Maersk refuted the Yemeni militia’s recent claims that they targeted the ship in the Red Sea and stated that the crew and ship were safe, but Maersk withheld” any supporting documentation. Houthis attempted to shoot at the Maersk vessel, but were unsuccessful. Reuters clarified this in an article where they wrote “Maersk on Thursday said ship Maersk Gibraltar was targeted by a missile while travelling from Salalah, Oman, to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and that the crew and vessel were reported safe. “The vessel was not hit,” a Maersk spokesperson told Reuters in an emailed statement following the Houthi claim. ” TradeWinds wrote “Another attack against a merchant ship, most likely carried out by Yemen’s Houthis, was reported on Thursday in the Red Sea.” in an article published on December 14, 2023.
Check out the full Video here:
D-Intent’s Fact-Checking Results:
1436
— D-Intent Data (@dintentdata) December 15, 2023
ANALYSIS: Misleading
FACT: An old image that features a burning ship has been shared with #Fake claim that a ship belonging to the Israeli-linked Maersk company was hit by a Yemeni anti-ship missile in the Red Sea. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/QTNRio3Lg8
Intent:
Propagandists circulate old images with false claims to promote their propaganda. But, after proper research, analysis and fact-checking, we have discovered that The truth is that this is an old photo of the Maersk Honam fire, which happened in March 2018 while the ship was travelling through the Arabian Sea and claimed the lives of five crew members. Maersk refuted the accusations and declared that the ship and crew were safe, while Yemeni militia recently claimed they had targeted the ship in the Red Sea but didn’t release any proof of their claims. The Maersk ship was targeted by Houthis, but their shots were ineffective.
Conclusion:
Claim : A Yemeni anti-ship missile is said to have struck a ship belonging to the Israeli-linked Maersk company in the Red Sea, according to an old picture of a burning ship that has been shared with fake claims.
Fact : The fact that this is an old photo depicts the Maersk Honam fire that started in March 2018 while the ship was sailing in the Arabian Sea and claimed the lives of five crew members. Maersk denied the accusations and stated that the ship and crew were safe. Recently, Yemeni militia claimed they targeted the ship in the Red Sea, but they held the necessary proof. The Maersk ship was targeted by Houthis, but their shots were missed.
