08 January 2024 , 15:49
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A Royal Navy warship has been deployed to the Red Sea to help manage the "extremely serious situation" developing there.
In a statement addressed to Parliament, the Secretary of State Grant Shapps explained that the HMS Richmond is on-route to the Gulf region in response to repeated attacks on commercial vessels co-ordinated by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
The Royal Navy sent the HMS Richmond, a Type 23 frigate, from Plymouth on Friday. It was the first naval deployment of the year from the base. The vessel is usually used as a submarine-launching platform, but it is well-equipped to escort commercial ships through the key trade route, carrying 32 Sea Ceptor missiles and a Wildcat helicopter.
The Minister said: “We are working with allies and partners to protect freedom of navigation and remain committed to holding malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives and commercial shipping in these critical waterways. As you would expect, while planning is underway for a range of scenarios, no decisions have been made and we continue to pursue all diplomatic routes”.
On Twitter on January 7, Shapps reposted a joint statement on the attacks, co-signed by 14 other governments, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and the US.
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The statement was a joint effort to condemn the Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea. It called the ongoing attacks "illegal, unacceptable and profoundly destabilising".
"There is no lawful justification for intentionally targeting civilian shipping and naval vessels", the statement continued." Attacks on vessels, including commercial vessels, using unmanned aerial vehicles, small boats, and missiles, including the historic first use of anti-ship ballistic missiles against such vessels, are a direct threat to the freedom of navigation that serves as the bedrock of global trade in one of the world’s most critical waterways."
The attacks "threaten innocent lives" and are a "significant international problem" demanding collective action. The statement continued to explain just how important these waterways are. "Nearly 15 percent of global seaborne trade passes through the Red Sea, including 8 percent of global grain trade, 12 percent of seaborne-traded oil and 8 percent of the world’s liquefied natural gas trade.
"International shipping companies continue to reroute their vessels around through the Cape of Good Hope, adding significant cost and weeks of delay to the delivery of goods, and ultimately jeopardizing the movement of critical food, fuel, and humanitarian assistance throughout the world", it reads.
"Let our message now be clear: we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews. The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways. We remain committed to the international rules-based order and are determined to hold malign actors accountable for unlawful seizures and attacks."