German military frigate heads toward Red Sea to protect ships

A German Navy frigate set sail on February 8 toward the Red Sea, where Berlin plans to have it take part in a European Union mission to help defend cargo ships from attacks by Yemen's Iranian-backed Houthi rebels that are hampering trade.

The Hessen set off from the North Sea port of Wilhelmshaven with about 240 servicepeople on board. The aim is to have it in place once the EU mission is given the official go-ahead and the German parliament has approved a mandate for the ship to join in, which is expected at the end of February, The Washington Post reports.

EU foreign ministers are expected to sign off on the Red Sea mission on February 19. Officials have said that seven countries in the bloc are ready to provide ships or planes.

The Iranian-backed Houthis have waged a persistent campaign of drone and missile attacks on commercial ships over Israel’s offensive in Gaza against Hamas, which began in October.

However, the rebels have frequently targeted vessels with tenuous or no clear links to Israel, imperiling shipping in a key route for global trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

US and British forces have carried out strikes against targets used by the Houthis, seeking to disrupt their missile-launching capabilities. But the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has said the EU mission — dubbed Aspides, from the Greek for “shield” — won’t take part in any military strikes and will only operate at sea.

Meanwhile, the US Central Command said on X, previously known as Twitter, that its forces conducted self-defense strikes against two Houthi mobile anti-ship cruise missiles in the morning of February 7 as they prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea.

And at night of February 7, US forces conducted a second strike against a Houthi mobile land attack cruise missile that was being prepared for launch.

An air assault on February 2 in Iraq and Syria targeted other Iranian-backed militias and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in retaliation for a drone strike that killed three US troops in Jordan.