The United States announced this Monday a military coalition of 10 countries against the Houthi attacks in the Red Sea, which includes Spain, the United Kingdom, France, Bahrain and Italy, among others.
“Countries seeking to defend the fundamental principle of freedom of navigation must come together to address the challenge posed by this non-state actor,” US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said in a statement.
The coalition wants to guarantee security and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea in the face of attacks by Houthi rebels from Yemen. And it is made up, in addition to the United States, of the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway, Bahrain and Seychelles.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, had claimed responsibility this Monday for two attacks against ships “linked to Israel” in the Red Sea, in solidarity with Gaza, and several companies announced that they will avoid this important trade route as a result of these attacks.
The rebels indicated that the Norwegian “M/V Swan Atlantic” and the “MSC Clara” were attacked after refusing to respond to their contact calls.
Key trade route
Visiting Israel, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called on Iran to stop supporting these attacks, which affect a key route for international trade. “These attacks are irresponsible, dangerous and violate international law. That is why we are taking steps to form an international coalition to confront this threat,” he added.
40% of world trade transits through the Bab Al Mandab Strait, the corridor that connects the Horn of Africa with the Arabian Peninsula and where the Houthis increased their attacks. The Houthis have warned that they will attack any ship heading to Israeli ports and sailing off the coast of Yemen, as a measure of pressure in response to the war between the Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza.
This threat prompted five shipping companies, including the world’s two largest ocean freight companies, to announce last week that they will avoid the Red Sea, which connects the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.
The British oil company BP announced this Monday that it will suspend any shipments through this route, news that caused crude oil prices to rise. So did the Taiwanese shipping giant Evergreen.
Frontline, one of the world’s largest tanker companies, said it was changing ship routes and would “only accept new business” that can pass through South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope. This route is much longer and consumes more fuel.
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The Italian-Swiss giant Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the French CMA CGM, the German Hapag-Lloyd, the Belgian Euronav and the Danish AP Moller-Maersk – the latter responsible for 15% of global container transport – stopped operate in the Red Sea until further notice.
The attacks have become “a maritime security crisis” with “commercial and economic implications in the region and beyond,” Torbjorn Soltvedt, from the Verisk Maplecroft analysis center, told AFP.