European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas made an unusually stark admission following a meeting of European defence ministers in Brussels this week, stating that commercial ships are now waiting in line for naval protection through the Red Sea because the bloc’s Aspides mission does not have sufficient warships. “There are commercial ships that are waiting in the queue to receive the escort,” Kallas said, noting the EU lacks enough frigates to provide the level of protection currently being requested. Operation Aspides was launched in 2024 as a defensive mission to shield merchant shipping from Houthi attacks, with Italy and Greece supplying its core vessels and periodic reinforcements from Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium.
Kallas said the mission was originally assessed as requiring at least ten ships, but available assets remain well below that threshold even as the security environment has grown considerably more dangerous. The shortage has intensified following renewed Houthi activity and the group’s capture of territory overlooking the Bab el-Mandeb strait, including Perim Island. Two EU member states have signaled they may contribute additional vessels, according to Kallas, though Brussels says it specifically needs frigates with stronger air-defence capability rather than simply a greater number of hulls, as the same limited pool of specialized warships is being drawn upon across multiple European naval commitments.
Source: Splash247 — https://splash247.com/red-sea-convoy-demand-overwhelms-eu-escort-capacity/
Tags: Red Sea, Operation Aspides, Houthi Attacks, Bab el-Mandeb
