Germany could send a warship on an EU naval mission to secure maritime traffic in the Red Sea. An EU mandate is still missing.
The frigate “Hessen”, a Sachsen-class ship (F124), could set sail for the Red Sea as early as February 1, as first reported by “Welt am Sonntag”, citing circles in Berlin and Brussels. There was initially no official confirmation. [ds_preview]
Indirectly, however, a spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Defense confirmed the project. However, a mandate from the EU must first be obtained. The European Union intends to launch a naval mission to secure shipping in the Red Sea in the near future.
EU still discussing Red Sea mission
According to the information provided, the first discussion on this is to take place tomorrow in Brussels. The approval of the Bundestag would also be required for the deployment of a German ship. The “Hessen”, which was commissioned in 2006, has a radar reconnaissance system that can detect 1,000 targets simultaneously, as well as anti-aircraft missiles, combat helicopters and around 240 troops onboard.
Since the start of the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas at the beginning of October, the Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked a number of merchant ships in the Red Sea with missiles and drones. The USA and the UK recently responded with a series of airstrikes on Houthi positions in Yemen. In contrast to the UK and France, Germany is not participating in the US-led military mission “Prosperity Guardian”.
