Operation Aspides
- The Houthis recently resumed their Red Sea attacks, sinking two ships in back-to-back assaults.The commander of Europe's defensive counter-Houthi mission said neither ship asked for an escort.He told BI that Europe doesn't have the warships it needs to fully protect Red Sea shipping lanes.
Europe's counter-Houthi mission doesn't have the warships it needs to fully protect Red Sea shipping lanes, the commander overseeing the operation told Business Insider. He said the two vessels that were recently attacked didn't ask for an escort.
Rear Adm. Vasileios Gryparis, the commander of Operation Aspides, the European Union's response to the Iran-backed Houthi attacks, said this week that the mission maintains a defensive posture in the region with assets available to support commercial shipping.
However, he said that the mission "operates within the limits of the naval resources made available" by the contributing European states on a voluntary basis, and Aspides doesn't have the authority to request more ships.
Gryparis said that on average, Aspides has fewer than one warship in the broader Red Sea area per day. An official with the mission declined to say what warships are deployed, but in recent weeks, the operation has spotlighted missions by an Italian destroyer and a Greek frigate.
"From the beginning," he said, "We made it clear that the number of assets should correspond to the vast area of operation, which doesn't include only the Red Sea. I'm supposed to operate in the whole northwest Indian Ocean, but also in the Gulf. This means that I have limited protection capacity."
Earlier this month, the Houthis carried out back-to-back attacks on two separate commercial vessels in the Red Sea, marking their first assaults on shipping in months.
Operation Aspides
The dual attacks on the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned cargo vessels Magic Seas and Eternity C killed several crew members. The Houthis sank both ships and are believed to have kidnapped some of the survivors.
Aspides has provided protection for hundreds of commercial vessels since the military operation began in early 2024, and European warships involved in the protection mission have shot down over 20 Houthi missiles and drones and destroyed at least two uncrewed surface vessels.
Gryparis said that neither the Magic Seas nor the Eternity C requested an escort or protection from Aspides ahead of their ill-fated transit through the Red Sea.
"I cannot force them to do that," he said, adding that Aspides shares threat assessments, advice, and support through an online platform where mariners can request help to deal with piracy incidents or the Houthis.
Each request for support that a commercial vessel submits to Aspides is evaluated, and so far, the operation has never said no, Gryparis said. He added that, based on operational conditions and the availability of warships, vessels are either given close protection or they can wait for the next available close protection window.
Gryparis said the latter "is always the most strongly recommended option." If the shipping companies or the vessels don't want to wait, they sail into the high-risk area on their own.
HOUTHI MEDIA CENTER/via REUTERS
He said "these courses of action are coordinated directly with the shipping companies, which are fully briefed on the available options available and the associated risk levels."
Allseas Marine and Cosmoship, the companies that own the Magic Seas and Eternity C, respectively, did not immediately respond to BI's requests for comment on why the vessels didn't request Aspides protection.
Aspides had long operated alongside the US Navy, which dispatched aircraft carriers and warships to the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to help defend the shipping lanes from Houthi missile and drone attacks that began in the fall of 2023.
Unlike the European forces under Aspides, in addition to the air defense operations, the US military has also launched airstrikes against the Houthis in Yemen. However, the Trump administration reached a ceasefire with the rebels in May and has not been involved in operations since then.
The ceasefire only prevented Houthi attacks on American ships, though; the rebels have continued to fire at Israel and, once again, at commercial vessels. Gryparis said the most recent assaults "represent a troubling development that can destabilize the freedom of navigation through the Red Sea."
"We continue to monitor carefully the developments in the broader area in order to adapt our mission, which remains strictly defensive and de-escalatory in nature," Gryparis said.
He added that Operation Aspides "remains fully committed to contribute to the Freedom of Navigation for the commercial shipping within its area of operations, depending on the assets and capabilities provided by EU member states."
