The European mission in the Red Sea seeks a significant increase in naval deployment

The European naval military mission Aspides, launched almost two months ago to protect commercial maritime traffic from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, has managed, in the seven weeks it has been operational, to safely escort 68 merchant ships, after repelling 11 attacks with drones and ballistic missiles, among others. However, its limited force – four frigates – forces it to concentrate its efforts in the area identified as the most problematic, in the southern Red Sea. To cover the entire space of its mandate, and in anticipation of a progressive recovery of commercial traffic in the area, the mission led by Greece wants to request a significant increase in its forces, as announced this Monday by its commander in Brussels.

“We have shown what we can do with what we have available and, if we increase our troops and our presence, in the future we will be able to deploy in the rest of the area of ​​operations,” summarized Greek Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis at a press conference in Brussels together to the high representative of Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell. This, for his part, has underlined the validity of the mission to which 19 countries, including Spain, contribute, with different means,: “This operation was a clear and rapid response from the EU to the deteriorating situation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, which was having a negative impact on our commercial navigation and stability (…) It is clear proof of our will and ability to strengthen international security, to protect the transport of public goods and to defend the European interests,” said the head of European diplomacy.

Aspides, which has an initial mandate of one year and a budget of eight million euros, currently has four frigates, provided by Germany, France, Greece and Italy, supported by an air patrol. The mission, which has some 800 personnel at sea, is officially ordered to contribute to maritime security along the main lines of communication in the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf and a vast part of the northwest of the Indian Ocean, an area that, Gryparis recalled, “doubles that of the 27 EU countries.”

The limitation of forces means that, for the moment, the operations of the frigates, which have different protection capacities - from one to several merchant ships - are concentrated in the "high risk area", in the south of the Red Sea, the Greek rear admiral explained.

"To date, everyone who has requested our protection has received it, but if the maritime industry increases its numbers, it will also mean that we will have to increase the troops available in the area of ​​operations," he warned, without wanting to reveal, however. the number of new ships you would like to obtain.

Cost increase

Since the Houthi attacks began in the area, maritime trade through this key route of commercial navigation has been sharply reduced: “Today only half of the 70 cargo ships that passed through the Red Sea daily continue to use the Suez Canal. ”Borrell recalled. The EU estimates that the instability in the Red Sea has caused an increase in transport time of between 10 and 14 days, since to avoid attacks, ships choose the longest route around the Cape of Good Hope, which in turn has skyrocketed all expenses: “The cost of a container transported from China to Europe has doubled, and insurance has increased by 60%,” the head of European diplomacy has given as an example.

Those responsible for Aspides consider that it is still too early to evaluate whether the presence of European frigates has contributed to reducing attacks. But their effectiveness has been demonstrated, they assert: in total, the mission has managed to protect 68 merchant ships to date, 100% of those that requested help, from a total of 11 attacks by the Houthi militia, which controls northwest Yemen, including Sana'a, the capital. In their defensive response to these attacks, European forces have destroyed nine drones and one unmanned vessel, in addition to having intercepted four ballistic missiles.

“The figures show how necessary this mission was (…) this is not a game, we are talking about real fire, [the European frigates] have to shoot down missiles and we are very aware that it is a mission that comes with a level of risk. We have to increase our capacity,” confirmed Borrell, who confirmed that an attempt is being made to increase the logistical support of the mission “and also the medical capabilities, just in case.”

On February 19, the Council of the EU gave the final approval to Aspides (shield, in Greek), a defensive mission - it is tasked with protecting merchant ships, but can only respond when it receives an attack and, in no case, carry out a attack against land targets—to protect freedom of trade and maritime security in the Red Sea, one of the busiest commercial transit areas in the world that has been greatly reduced since the end of 2023 due to Houthi attacks. Although they claim that it is a retaliation for the Israeli offensive against Gaza after the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, Borrell defended this Monday the independence of the mission which, he stated, “does not seek to be a response to the situation.” in Gaza nor to the Israeli response to the Hamas attack (…) it is not a response to Iran either, we have a strategic objective, which is to protect the lives of seafarers and guarantee free navigation and international trade, these are our strategic interests.” .

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