Italy sends warships to Bab el‑Mandeb, acting without EU as Red Sea shipping risks rise
Italy will deploy navy vessels to protect its commercial traffic through the Bab el‑Mandeb strait without waiting for a joint EU decision, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said, signalling Rome’s concern over delays as threats to Red Sea shipping grow.
Italy has decided to send its own warships to safeguard commercial shipping through the Bab el‑Mandeb strait rather than wait for a coordinated European Union response.
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Italy will deploy navy vessels to protect Italian commercial ships moving through the strait, which links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. He argued that Italy has the capabilities to protect the passage and warned that bureaucratic delays in EU decision‑making must not be allowed to worsen an already complex situation.
The Bab el‑Mandeb is a narrow chokepoint at the southern end of the Red Sea. It sits off the coasts of Yemen, Djibouti and Eritrea, on the route between the Suez Canal and the Indian Ocean. Disruption there can quickly affect container traffic and oil flows between Europe, Asia and the Gulf.
By moving ahead on its own, Rome is signalling that it sees the security risk to Italian‑flagged vessels and crews as pressing enough to justify a national mission. Italian shipowners have watched attacks and threats in the Red Sea region with growing concern, and a naval presence can provide at least some deterrence and reassurance.
The decision also exposes a gap between the speed at which individual EU member states judge they must act and the slower pace of collective decision‑making in Brussels. Italy’s move could prompt debate over whether other European states should follow with their own deployments or push harder for a joint EU maritime security effort in and around Bab el‑Mandeb.
The key developments to watch now are the size and rules of engagement of the Italian deployment, how it interacts with other naval forces already operating in the region, and whether the EU responds with its own plan for Red Sea and Bab el‑Mandeb security.
Sources
- OSINT