Fending off Houthis requires double the fleet, EU force says
Red Sea needs to more than double in size because of escalating attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, the head of the operation said.
Four EU vessels have been patrolling the waters off the coast of Yemen since February. In that time, they’ve provided “close assistance” to 164 ships, shot down more than a dozen unmanned aerial vehicles and destroyed four anti-ship ballistics missiles, Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis said in an interview on Wednesday.
The Yemen-based Houthis began attacking vessels last year to pressure Israel and its allies over the war in the Gaza Strip. Their campaign has roiled global shipping, forcing many vessels to sail thousands of miles around southern Africa instead — despite the EU operation and US and UK bombing that began in January.
A warning by the Yemen-based Houthi movement last month that it will target ships owned by companies that dock a single vessel in Israel has increased the risk for commercial shippers, Gryparis said. He was in Brussels this week to lobby for additional resources.
“We don’t have that many assets and the whole area we have to cover is enormous,” he said. “I am pressing all the member states to provide more assets.”
The US Navy has an aircraft carrier strike group in the region, including the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier and three warships, according to website military.com.
Last week, the militants struck the coal-carrying Tutor with a seaborne drone, killing a Filipino crew member. The ship sank on Thursday.
US and UK bombing campaigns have failed
