Shortly after his visit to Israel yesterday US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last night announced the establishment of a multinational naval force to protect freedom of navigation in the Red Sea in the wake of attacks on shipping by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. The attacks began exactly a month ago when the Houthis hijacked Houthi rebels hijacked the roll-on-roll-of Galaxy Leader owned by Rami Ungar's Ray Shipping on November 19.
Since then attacks on shipping by the Houthis have escalated and many of the world's largest shipping lines announced they would reroute away from the Red Sea and Suez Canal. Instead they are sailing around the Cape of Good Hope off South Africa making shipping costs more expensive.
After taking a month to realize that the Houthis threatened not just Israel the US has decided to act. Lloyd said, "This is an international challenge that demands collective action. Therefore, today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of its Task Force 153, which focuses on security in the Red Sea.
"Operation Prosperity Guardian is bringing together multiple countries to include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, to jointly address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on December 19, 2023.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.