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The European Union is expanding its naval escort mission in the Red Sea, as a growing number of commercial vessels require protection amid an escalating war in Yemen, the bloc’s top diplomat said Thursday.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, told AFP in an interview during a visit to Lebanon that demand for escorts through the waterway has been climbing. “The list of ships that need escorting is increasing,” she said.
The EU launched Operation Aspides in 2024 after Yemen’s Houthi movement began targeting shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. The mission raised its alert level last month after the group threatened the waterway again, according to the bloc.
Kallas said she had pressed EU member states to contribute additional ships to the operation, and that the appeals were starting to pay off. “The good news is that the member states are already providing more ships,” she said, adding that Belgium is sending new vessels and that two other member states are either supplying or considering supplying ships of their own.
Despite the pledges, the mission remains short of its target. “The minimum amount that we actually need is 10 ships. We don’t have that right now, but we are working on getting this there,” Kallas said. She described maritime security as one of the bloc’s central priorities.
The renewed alert follows a Houthi offensive last month in which the Iran-backed group seized control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline, including the Bab al-Mandab strait, one of the world’s most strategically significant chokepoints. The advance marked a reignition of a conflict that had previously been dormant.
Since the war resumed, the Houthis have repeatedly struck oil facilities and military sites inside Saudi Arabia and declared a maritime blockade against the kingdom.
The Red Sea links Asia to Europe via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean, making it one of the busiest corridors for global shipping. It has also taken on added importance for Saudi oil exports, after Iran blockaded the Strait of Hormuz during the broader Middle East war, cutting off an alternative route for crude shipments.
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