10-nation coalition to tackle supply chain disruption in Red Sea

Companies like Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd, Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), CMA CGM, Equinor, OOCL, HMM, Evergreen, Yang Ming, Frontline, Euronav and BP have halted their operations in the Red Sea.

“Operation Prosperity Guardian is bringing together multiple countries to include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, to jointly address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity,” US secretary of defense Lloyd J Austin III said in a statement in Bahrain.

Some of the countries will conduct joint patrols, while others will offer intelligence support.

Attacks on tankers, cargo ships and other vessels in the Red Sea by Iran-backed Houthi rebels have increased in recent months, badly affecting the maritime transit route that carries up to 12 per cent of global trade traffic.

ALCHEMPro News Desk (DS)