The cavalry arrives. The American defense secretary announced Monday the formation of a coalition of 10 countries in the Red Sea to counter repeated attacks by the Houthis on ships that these Yemeni rebels consider to be “aligned with Israel.”
In addition to the United States, Lloyd Austin announced in a press release that France, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the Seychelles would take part in this coalition.
“The recent escalation of reckless Houthi attacks from Yemen threatens the free flow of trade, endangers the lives of innocent seafarers and violates international law,” he said. “That’s why today I’m announcing the creation of Operation Prosperity Guardian,” the Pentagon chief added.
During his visit to Israel, Lloyd Austin previously called on Iran to end its “support” for Houthi operations against merchant shipping after holding talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel is not one of the states that the Pentagon chief mentioned as part of the Red Sea coalition.
In 2019, Washington created a naval coalition to protect maritime traffic in Gulf waters after the United States attributed a series of attacks to Iran, which denied being the origin of those attacks.
Transit suspended
Earlier on Monday, the Houthis claimed responsibility for new attacks in the Red Sea that targeted two ships “linked to Israel.” The Houthis claimed in a statement that they had “carried out a military operation using seaplanes against two ships linked to the Zionist entity” and identified the attacked vessels as the M/T Swan Atlantic and the MSC Clara.
The owner of the Norwegian ship M/T Swan Atlantic has admitted that the tanker was hit by an “unidentified object”. “Fortunately, the Indian crew members were not injured and, according to them, the boat suffered only limited damage,” Norwegian shipowner Inventor Chemical Tankers said in a statement.
In the near future, major sea transport giants will forgo passage through the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa and through which 40% of world trade passes.
Following the example of many shipping companies, British hydrocarbon giant BP and Taiwanese maritime transport giant Evergreen have announced that they will suspend all transit in the Red Sea due to the repeated attacks.
At the end of last week, the Danish Maersk, the German Hapag-Lloyd, the French CMA CGM and the Italian-Swiss MSC had announced in recent days that their ships would no longer use the Red Sea “at least until further notice” until Monday or until the passage is “safe”. French diplomatic chief Catherine Colonna estimated on Sunday that these attacks “cannot go unanswered.”
“No connection to Israel”
In response to the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Houthis, who control large parts of Yemen, have warned that they will attack ships sailing off the country's coast if they have ties to Israel. Several missiles and drones were fired from warships patrolling the area.
The Red Sea is a “sea highway” that connects the Mediterranean with the Indian Ocean and thus Europe with Asia. Around 20,000 ships pass through the Suez Canal every year, the entry and exit point for ships traveling through the Red Sea.
“The boat has no connection to Israel, neither on the part of its owner (Norwegian), nor on the part of the technical management (Singapore) or its loading,” emphasized the owner of the Norwegian ship M/T Swan Atlantic, stating that it is a Tanker traded on the way from mainland France to Réunion, it is now under the protection of the American Navy.
By no longer sailing through the Suez Canal and Red Sea, ships will have to circumnavigate Africa and pass through the Cape of Good Hope, which will significantly increase travel times.
To connect Rotterdam with Singapore, the detour lengthens the journey by 40%, from about 8,400 nautical miles (15,550 km) to 11,720 miles (21,700 km), according to S&P Global. Several ships, particularly from Maersk and MSC, have already sailed this route in the last few days, he explains.