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On 19 February, the Foreign Affairs Council formally approved the launch of the EUNAVFOR ASPIDES military operation, which aims to restore and safeguard freedom of navigation in the Red Sea area.

The ASPIDES operation will ensure EU naval presence in the region where Houthis have performed numerous attacks against ships since October 2023, leading to the rerouting of most ships via the Cape of Good Hope. The operation has a defensive mandate only, to provide ships situational awareness and protection against possible attacks at sea. The operation headquarters will be based in Larissa, Greece, under a Greek-Italian military leadership. APSIDES will seek cooperation with the EUNAVFOR ATALANTA mission currently operating in the Indian Ocean and in the Red Sea as well as with like-minded partners contributing to maritime security in the area, such as the US-led Operation Prosperity Guardian.

The next day, on 20 February, the G7 Transport Ministers held an extraordinary meeting and issued a declaration on the Red Sea escalating crisis. The declaration condemns the attacks carried out by the Houthis against commercial vessels transiting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, as well as against the naval vessels protecting them, emphasising how disruptions to navigation in the Red Sea have led to significant increases in freight rates with consequences for global supply chains and prices. Importantly, ministers underscore “the benefits of transparency for transport users to enhance coordination, understand the drivers of cost and rate increases, and to safeguard maritime corridors as the backbone of global supply chains.” CLECAT welcomes this declaration, as we have repeatedly called on maritime carriers to exercise care on imposing surcharges and freight hikes, to ensure it only covers the extra costs incurred by the exceptional situation, and that they are only applied on affected sea routes.

Source: Council of the EU, G7 Italian Presidency