As we have extensively reported, the Iranian-backed Houthi militia in Yemen has been doing their best to disrupt merchant shipping transiting the Red Sea:
It’s gotten so bad that the Biden Administration is considering re-designating the Houthis a terrorist organization: Kirby: Biden Admin ‘Going to Review’ Decision Lifting Designation of Houthis as a Terrorist Organization
This fairly thorough piece in Foreign Policy explains why the Red Sea is so important:
Moses may have parted the Red Sea, but now, thanks to a wave of Houthi missile attacks, shipping companies are departing it in droves.So far, the Iran-backed Yemeni group has launched at least 100 missile and drone attacks against a dozen ships in the Red Sea, according to U.S. officials, and threatened to target all vessels heading toward Israel, whether or not they are Israeli-owned or operated. To avoid suffering the same fate, major energy and shipping companies, including BP and Maersk, have halted their operations there—rattling energy markets and driving up global oil prices and soon everything else. The Red Sea is what connects Asia to Europe, in terms of cargo ships, so disruptions are felt around the world….Tucked between Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Sudan, the Red Sea is an entryway to the Suez Canal and one of the world’s key global trade corridors, overseeing some 12 percent of global trade and nearly one-third of global container traffic. With as many as 19,000 ships crossing through the Suez Canal annually, the inlet is a strategic pressure point in the energy and commodity trade….Worried by the Houthi attacks, a growing list of major energy companies and shipping firms—including BP, Equinor, Maersk, Evergreen Line, and HMM—have rerouted their ships or suspended operations in the Red Sea. Rather than steaming through the narrow sea, at least 100 ships have instead traveled around the bottom of southern Africa—a detour that can extend ship journeys by thousands of miles and delay freight by weeks.For now, that will…mean delays, higher costs, and continued disruptions.
The Biden Administration may be considering striking Houthi targets in Yemen, but has held off for now.
Instead, the Administration has commenced defensive operations in support of maintaining the flow of commerce through the Red Sea, calling the effort “Operation Prosperity Guardian.” From Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s statement on the subject:
The recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks originating from Yemen threatens the free flow of commerce, endangers innocent mariners, and violates international law. The Red Sea is a critical waterway that has been essential to freedom of navigation and a major commercial corridor that facilitates international trade. Countries that seek to uphold the foundational principle of freedom of navigation must come together to tackle the challenge posed by this non-state actor launching ballistic missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) at merchant vessels from many nations lawfully transiting international waters.This is an international challenge that demands collective action. Therefore, today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of its Task Force 153, which focuses on security in the Red Sea.Operation Prosperity Guardian is bringing together multiple countries to include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, to jointly address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity.
Soon after it was announced, however, France, Spain, and Italy announced that they would not participate if the Operation was under United States Leadership. From Reuters via the maritime blog GCaptain: Spain, Italy, France Decline US Command Of Red Sea Operation Prosperity Guardian:
The United States is assembling a multinational naval coalition to help safeguard commercial traffic from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi movement. On Thursday, the Pentagon said more than 20 countries had now agreed to participate in the group, known as Operation Prosperity Guardian.Some countries have not confirmed their participation, however, while others have said their efforts to help protect Red Sea commercial traffic will be as part of existing naval agreements rather than the new U.S.-led operation.The lack of details and clarity over what countries are doing has added to confusion for shipping companies, some of which have been re-routing vessels away from the area after the attacks, which the Houthis say are a response to Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip….FRANCE: France’s Defence Ministry said it supported efforts to secure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and surrounding area and said it already operated in the region but it said its ships would stay under French command and did not say if it would deploy more naval forces.France has a naval base in the United Arab Emirates and 1,500 troops in Djibouti. Its frigate Languedoc is now in the Red Sea.ITALY: Italy’s Defence Ministry said it would send naval frigate Virginio Fasan to the Red Sea to protect its national interests in response to specific requests made by Italian shipowners.It said this was part of its existing operations and was not part of Operation Prosperity Guardian.SPAIN: Spain’s Defence Ministry said it would only participate in NATO-led missions or EU-coordinated operations. “We will not participate unilaterally in the Red Sea operation,” it said.[emphasis added]
The Saudis apparently aren’t interested:
To sum up:
But all is not lost, as at least one of the shipping lines that withdrew from the Red Sea has returned, for now: Shipping giant to resume Red Sea voyages with Operation Prosperity Guardian in place:
Denmark-based shipping giant Maersk announced Sunday it plans to resume routes through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, days after the U.S. said it was forming a coalition with several nations to defend vessels from Iran-backed Houthi rebels.Maersk paused routes through the Bab el-Mandeb strait earlier in December because of attacks against its ships, and the Suez Canal, which is heavily traversed by ships from around the world, became unusable for most routes.Without the route, global commerce was bound to be hit hard, as many companies chose to reroute ships around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa….Maersk said on Sunday it had received confirmation that Operation Prosperity Guardian was in place and sailings would resume through the Suez Canal.
And it appears Greece has signed up:
We will keep an eye on this, of course, but there is yet another maritime event that happened that we must inform you about.
Two days before Christmas a merchant ship was attacked as it transited the Arabian Sea on its way to India from Saudi Arabia:
The ship, the Liberian-flagged Motor Vessel Chem Pluto, has been damaged and some reporting suggests that the attack was launched by an Iranian naval vessel:
Although no one was injured and the vessel is still underway, damage was fairly extensive:
Things are obviously pretty hot on the high seas right now. We will continue to track these events and the Biden Administration’s response to them.
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