Dendias: Greece will dispatch frigate to Red Sea
Greece will send a Hellenic Navy frigate to the multinational force led by the United States that will maintain unfettered access to the Red Sea for commercial ships, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias announced on Thursday.
Operation Guardian of Prosperity, in which 10 countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain) have already expressed an interest, will aim to protect merchant vessels sailing in the Red Sea that face a threat from Houthi rebels.
Iranian-backed rebels based in western Yemen have announced attacks on ships from countries they consider hostile, and have already seized one merchant ship and launched missiles against three others.
In the coming days, a team of Hellenic Navy staff is expected to travel to Bahrain, where the US-sponsored operation’s coordination center will be located, to be briefed on the details of the planned mission.
Broadly speaking, the basic plan is to escort merchant ships passing through the southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden area using warships.
There is already a debate about the international legitimacy of the mission, which has, however, been supported by statements from NATO, the European Union and third countries such as Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, New Zealand, Liberia, the Bahamas and the legitimate government of Yemen. It is expected, however, that legitimacy will be found, as many people are affected by the aggressive actions of the Houthi rebels.
For Athens, the questions are many, as Operation Guardian of Prosperity is not a mission like those in which the Hellenic Navy participated in off the Horn of Africa to counter piracy, but requires the development of anti-ballistic capabilities.
The Hellenic Navy’s frigates (both the older Dutch Kortenaer-class and the later MEKOs) do not have anti-ballistic capabilities, nor, of course, do they have area air defenses or active electronic warfare protection measures.
