- The disruption to usual trade flows is expected to result in higher prices and delays, which will only intensify the longer the disruption lasts, as alternative routes can add thousands of miles to shipping journeys
The U.S. and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced early Tuesday in Bahrain.
The seriousness of the attacks, several of which have damaged the vessels, has led multiple shipping companies to order their ships to hold in place and not enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the security situation can be addressed.
The U.S. military’s Central Command reported two more of the attacks on commercial vessels Monday. A strike by attack drone and ballistic missile hit a tanker off Yemen, at roughly the same time a cargo ship reported an explosive detonating in the water near them, the military said.
“This is an international challenge that demands collective action,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in statement released just after midnight in Bahrain. “Therefore today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative.”
The United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain will join the U.S. in the new mission, Austin announced. Some of the countries will conduct joint patrols while others provide intelligence support in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
Several other countries have also agreed to be involved in the operation but prefer not to be publicly named, a defense official said on the condition of anonymity to discuss additional details of the new mission that have not been publicly announced.
The mission will be coordinated by the already existing Combined Task Force 153, which was set up in April 2022 to improve maritime security in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb and the Gulf of Aden. There have been 39 member nations in CTF 153, but officials were working to determine which of them would participate in this latest effort.
Separately, the United States has also called on the United Nations Security Council to take action against the attacks.
In a letter to council members obtained Monday by The Associated Press, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Houthi attacks targeting commercial vessels legally transiting the international waterways continue to threaten “navigational rights and freedoms, international maritime security, and international commerce.”
The 15 council members discussed the Houthi threat behind closed doors Monday but took no immediate action.
Two U.S. warships — the USS Carney and the USS Mason, Navy destroyers — have been moving through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait daily to help deter and respond to attacks from the Houthis.
The move to set up the expanded operation came after three commercial vessels were struck by missiles fired by Iranian-back Houthis in Yemen on Dec. 3. Those attacks were part of an escalating campaign of violence that also included armed and other drones launched in the direction of U.S. warships.
To date the U.S. has not struck back at the Iranian-back Houthis operating in Yemen or targeted any of the militants’ weapons or other sites. On Monday Austin did not answer a question as to why the Pentagon had not conducted a counterstrike.
It comes after a growing number of companies, including BP, have paused shipments through the waters after recent assaults on vessels by Houthi rebels.
The oil giant revealed on Monday that it had temporarily stopped its shipping operations via the Suez Canal.
“The safety and security of our people and those working on our behalf is BP’s priority,” the company said.
“In light of the deteriorating security situation for shipping in the Red Sea, BP has decided to temporarily pause all transits through the Red Sea.”
BP followed in the footsteps of shipping giants Maersk, Swiss-based MSC and French group CMA CGM in avoiding the area.
Hapag-Lloyd, which had seen one of its ships targeted last week, said also joined them on Monday evening, telling Sky News: “For the time being, we are routing ships around the Cape of Good Hope”.
The company called for an international coalition to protect shipping.
Evergreen announced that it had temporarily suspended import and export services in Israel until further notice, citing the security risk, in addition to halting journeys via the Suez Canal.
“We ask for your understanding under these serious circumstances”, the container ship firm told its clients.
Operations through the canal started to be paused on Friday following attacks on vessels in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen.
The group, which supports Hamas in its war with Israel, has vowed to target vessels which it believes are heading to and from Israel.
The World Shipping Council welcomed the news of the new task force.
“The mission of this task force is critical to protecting seafarers and to defending the foundational principle of freedom of navigation,” the organization wrote in a statement.