Italy to deploy warships to protect shipping through Bab al-Mandeb

Italy says it will deploy warships to protect commercial vessels transiting the Bab al-Mandeb strait, a move its defence minister says is needed to avoid severe economic fallout if the route becomes impassable. Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Rome will not wait for a joint European Union decision before acting. He said Italy has the capabilities to protect the passage and should not allow bureaucratic delays to worsen an already complex situation.

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Bab al-Mandeb links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and is one of the world's busiest shipping corridors between Europe and Asia. The narrow waterway is a key route for oil, gas and container traffic heading to and from the Suez Canal. The supporting material says roughly 12% to 15% of global trade has historically passed through the strait, which is about 30 kilometres wide at its narrowest point.

The route's importance has increased sharply in recent months because of wider disruption to regional shipping lanes. The supporting material says the strait has become more significant after Iran effectively seized control of the Strait of Hormuz earlier this year amid its war with the United States and Israel, pushing more Gulf exports towards alternative routes. It also says Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on pipelines and Red Sea shipping to bypass Hormuz, making Bab al-Mandeb one of the last major arteries still open to Gulf oil reaching global markets.

The strait has long been strategically sensitive because it sits between Yemen on one side and Djibouti and Eritrea on the other. Control of the area has been contested for years during Yemen's war, with the government, Houthi rebels and other regional forces holding stretches of coastline at different times since 2015. The supporting material says the significance of the waterway has been hit dramatically in recent weeks after the Iran-backed Houthi movement launched a rapid offensive that brought Yemen's western Red Sea coast under its control, including several strategically located islands.

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That development has raised concern for international shipping because the Houthis have a history of attacking vessels they associate with the United States or its allies in the region. The material says the group's advance has given it effectively unrestricted access to the waterway, which is seen as a major setback for commercial traffic. Italy's decision to send warships appears aimed at reducing risk for its own shipping interests while broader European coordination remains unresolved.

It is not clear from the available material when the warships will arrive, how many vessels will be deployed or whether the mission will operate independently or alongside other partners. The immediate focus is on protecting commercial shipping through the strait and preventing further disruption to trade flows. What happens next will depend on whether the security situation in and around Bab al-Mandeb worsens further and whether the European Union reaches a common response.

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