Costas Paris and Joe Wallace of The Wall Street Journal are reporting that the Pentagon has unveiled a multi-national operation vowed to protect merchant ships passing through the Suez Canal from Houthi rebels after BP, and Maersk started diverting vessels. They write:
The U.S. unveiled a multinational naval force to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea after Houthi rebel attacks threatened the Suez Canal’s central role in global trade.
On Monday, the Pentagon said it was establishing a security operation to protect seaborne traffic from ballistic missiles and drone attacks launched by the Houthi groups in Yemen. The effort, called Operation Prosperity Guardian, will include the U.K., Bahrain, France, Norway and other countries. […]
“There are about 10 ships drifting on the North entrance of the canal—ships heading from Europe to Asia—as they assess the situation,” said Peter Sand, chief analyst at shipping platform Xeneta. “Geopolitics is showing its ugly face and shipping has been taken as a hostage.”
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