A number of allies said United State They support efforts to protect navigation in The Red Sea After attacks launched Houthi group Yemen, but some of them said they would not join a naval coalition that Washington said it was forming for this mission.
The response increased the confusion of shipping companies, some of which changed the course of ships away from the region after the attacks that the Houthi group says they are launching in response to the Israeli attack on Gaza strip.
Yesterday, Tuesday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced plans to form a multinational coalition to protect maritime navigation in the Red Sea called “Operation Prosperity Guardian.”
Austin said on a tour through the Middle East that the operations will be joined by Britain, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain.
What do these countries say?
The French Ministry of Defense said that it supports efforts to secure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the surrounding area, and that it is already operating in the region, but added that its ships will remain under French command and did not say whether it would deploy other naval forces.
France has a naval base in the Emirates and 1,500 soldiers in Djibouti, and its frigate Languedoc is currently in the Red Sea.
The Italian Ministry of Defense said it will send the naval frigate Virginio Fasan to the Red Sea to protect its interests in response to specific requests made by Italian shipowners.
She said this was within its current operations and not part of Operation Prosperity Guardian.
Spain’s Defense Ministry said it would only participate in NATO-led missions or operations coordinated by the European Union, adding, “We will not participate unilaterally in the Red Sea operation.”
Britain said the destroyer HMS Diamond would join Operation Prosperity Sentinel, and the British Ministry of Defense said the coalition would operate as part of the US-led combined naval forces.
The Netherlands said it would send two officers, and Norway said it would send 10 naval officers to Bahrain, which hosts the headquarters of the Combined Maritime Forces Command.
What maritime alliances exist in the region?
Naval forces from several countries are already participating in international operations to protect shipping lanes in the region, which includes protecting ships from pirates who have disrupted shipping off the coast of Somalia for several years.
These tasks include the following:
- Operation Atlanta was established by the European Union Naval Force in Somalia and operates off the Horn of Africa and in the western Indian Ocean to support UN resolutions to protect the seas from piracy. Its headquarters are in Spain.
- Operation Agenor, a European-led operation, aims to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a major shipping lane for oil exports from the Gulf states.
- The Joint Maritime Forces are a multinational maritime partnership that the United States leads from Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet. The Joint Maritime Forces include 39 members, including NATO, European, and regional member states, and one of its missions is Joint Task Force 153, which Operating in the Red Sea.
