what will the international coalition look like?

Led by the United States, ships from France, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, Italy and even the Seychelles will contribute to this coalition. With one mission: to secure this highly strategic area.

In the Red Sea, a new international operation is being prepared to fight against attacks by Yemen rebels. The Houthis, close to Iran, are attacking ships that have links to Israel, in response to the war against Hamas. To protect maritime traffic, the States announce the creation of a coalition made up of 10 countries, including France.

The operation was called Prosperity Guardian, or “guardian of prosperity” in French. Objective: to protect commercial boats which are regularly attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, supported by Iran and which target ships which these rebels consider to be “linked to Israel.” Joint patrols of warships from around ten countries will therefore cruise in the south of the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden, in order to avoid an escalation in what is presented by experts as a “spine” of maritime traffic.

Several missiles and drones have been shot down in recent weeks by military vessels in the area. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin denounces “the recent escalation of irresponsible attacks” in the press release issued while he was traveling in the region, “These attacks threaten the free flow of commerce, endanger the lives of innocent seafarers and violate international law,” according to the Pentagon. Attacks near the strait which separates the Arabian Peninsula from Africa and through which 40% of world trade passes.

A coalition under American leadership

It is the United States which is at the origin and as it is not a NATO initiative for example, it will depend on the goodwill of those who respond to the call. For the moment, France, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the Seychelles would be part of the operation. Note that the Americans would like to involve Middle Eastern countries, notably Saudi Arabia.

Israel is not part of this coalition because the country already has a lot on its plate at the moment in terms of war. Furthermore, the Americans want the debate in this part of the world to focus only on maritime security. Involving the Israelis would reinforce the regionalization of the conflict. There already exists a coalition in the region at the initiative of the European Union, but it has few resources and was initially concerned with Somalia, facing acts of piracy since 2005.

An expensive coalition

While the drones sent by the Houthis cost $20,000 each, the missiles to destroy them are estimated at nearly a million euros. Suffice to say that this is not viable in the long term. For the moment, we know that there are around twenty military boats in the region. But with the rotations and the extent of the area to be monitored, this does not mean that they will all be operational. Especially since shipowners have moved faster than politicians and many have decided to bypass Africa.

So of course, it is longer, it represents 40% more journey but it is not necessarily much more expensive than going through the Red Sea since with the crisis insurance premiums have exploded for those who pass through the Suez Canal. Every year, 20,000 ships pass through the Red Sea.