2023-12-19 00:41:00
The American Minister of Defense Lloyd Austin announced, this Monday, December 18, the formation of an international coalition in the Red Sea aimed at countering the “irresponsible attacks” of the Houthi rebels of Yemen on maritime traffic and comprising ten countries, including the France, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the Seychelles. Lloyd Austin also called on Iran to stop its “support” for Houthi operations against commercial shipping.
“The recent escalation of reckless Houthi attacks from Yemen threatens the free flow of trade, endangers the lives of innocent sailors and violates international law,” Lloyd Austin said in a statement. “That is why today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian,” added the Pentagon chief.
Attacks that “cannot go unanswered”
This announcement follows several attacks on ships in the Red Sea, which Yemeni rebels consider to be “linked to Israel”.
“The Yemeni armed forces carried out a military operation against two ships linked to the Zionist entity using seaplanes,” the Houthis assured in a statement, identifying the targeted ships as the M/T Swan Atlantic and the MSC Clara.
The owner of the M/T Swan Atlantic admitted that the tanker had been hit by an “unidentified object”. “Fortunately, the Indian crew members were not injured and, according to them, the boat suffered limited damage,” Norwegian shipowner Inventor Chemical Tankers said in a statement. “The boat has no connection with Israel on either its owner’s side [norvégien] than technical management [singapourien] or its loading,” underlined the owner of the Norwegian ship, specifying that the tanker was traveling from mainland France to Reunion. They are now under the protection of the United States Navy.
In the immediate future, maritime transport giants are deserting passage through the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa, and through which 40% of world trade passes.
READ ALSO Red Sea: France shot down a drone which threatened the tanker attacked by the HouthisFollowing the example of many shipowners, the British hydrocarbon giant BP and the Taiwanese maritime transport giant Evergreen have announced that they are suspending all transit in the Red Sea because of 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 “until further notice », at least until Monday or until the passage “is safe”.
The head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna estimated on Sunday that these attacks “cannot go unanswered”.
A detour of more than 6,000 km without the Red Sea
The Houthis have warned they will target ships sailing off the coast of Yemen with links to Israel, in response to the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Several missiles and drones were shot down by warships patrolling the area.
The Red Sea is a “sea highway” connecting the Mediterranean to the ocean Indian, and therefore Europe to Asia. Around 20,000 ships pass through the Suez Canal each year, the entry and exit point for ships passing through the Red Sea.
If they no longer transit through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, ships will have to go around Africa and pass through the Cape of Good Hope, which will considerably lengthen journeys.
READ ALSO Attacks in the Red Sea: shipping giants avoid crossing “until further notice”To connect Rotterdam to Singapore, the detour lengthens the journey by 40%, from approximately 8,400 nautical miles (15,550 km) to 11,720 miles (21,700 km), according to S&P Global.
Several ships, notably from Maersk and MSC, have already taken this route in recent days, he explains.
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