EU naval mission in the Red Sea repels 11 Houthi attacks and escorts almost 70 ships in two months

Follow the latest news on the war in Gaza live

BRUSSELS, April 8 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The European Union naval mission in the Red Sea, 'Aspides', has repelled 11 attacks by the Houthi rebels and escorted almost 70 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden since its launch on February 19, the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, who has valued the reaction in “record time” of the 27 to the crisis generated in world trade by the actions of the Yemeni militia.

In this time, operation 'Aspides' has escorted 68 merchant ships and repelled 11 ballistic missile and drone attacks. To date, all vessels protected by European forces have managed to cross this area, according to the balance offered by Borrell together with the commander of the operation, Greek rear admiral Vasileios Gryparis.

“The figures show how important this mission was and the level of action with the number of attacks repelled. We are not talking about a game, they respond to attacks and real fire,” said the head of community diplomacy, who indicated that the Commercial flow through the Red Sea has fallen by half since the crisis caused by the Houthis at the end of the year, who claim to defend the Palestinian cause to attack commercial ships.

Borrell has disconnected this mission from the war in Gaza, emphasizing that the European presence seeks to protect its interests, and has stressed that it has been set up with an initial financing of eight million euros to cover common expenses over a period of one year. , emphasizing that in these cases a balance must be made between the cost of acting and the cost of doing nothing in the face of attacks by the Yemeni rebels.

These “indiscriminate” attacks threaten maritime security and put international trade at risk, explained Borrell, in an area that has seen cargo ship traffic fall by half. “Today only half of the 70 cargo ships that passed through the Red Sea daily still use the Suez Canal,” he added.

According to EU calculations, instability in the Red Sea has caused transport time from Asia to Europe to increase between 10 and 14 days, as alternative routes such as the Cape of Good Hope have been sought, while the cost of transport has doubled and the price of insurance has risen by six percent.

DISCUSSIONS TO INCREASE THE MISSION

The mission has four ships deployed, contributed by Germany, Italy, France and Greece, while another 19 member states participate with personnel in a mission that is already thinking about increasing its resources to guarantee operations in a maritime area that is twice the territory. terrestrial of the European Union.

In this sense, Gryparis has explained that he is already in contact with the 27 to obtain more resources at the next force conference scheduled for the end of April, specifically to increase the logistical and medical capacity of the mission.

With the aim of “improving the operational plan”, the military leader of 'Aspides' has stressed that the EU mission has to be able to deal with “unfortunate actions.” “I have contacted Member States to have the best solutions for logistics and medical treatment,” he explained, insisting that this must be achieved through concrete means.

Regarding the option of having more ships to cover the entire area of ​​action of the naval operation, Gryparis has argued that for the moment the mission is concentrated in the area with the highest risk of attacks and in which there has been a reduction of 50 percent of the volume of merchant ships. “It is early to reach conclusions and say if we have achieved results, but this is the way forward. We have demonstrated with some resources what we can do and if we increase them we will be able to deploy throughout the mandate area in the near future,” he said. indicated.