U.S. unveils Operation Prosperity Guardian to counter Houthi rebels attacking Red Sea ships

Dec. 18 (UPI) -- The United States on Monday unveiled a new multinational military initiative aimed at countering the escalating attacks by Houthi militants targeting commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea.

Few specifics about Operation Prosperity Guardian were offered in the brief press release issued Monday by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announcing the initiative, other than that it has the goal of "ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering region security and prosperity" in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Britain, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherland, Norway, Seychelles and Spain make up Operation Prosperity Guardian along with the United States, it said, and it will operate under the 39-nation Combined Maritime Forces, which was formed to counter illicit non-state actors in international waters, from pirates to the Houthi rebels.

"The Red Sea is a critical waterway that has been essential to freedom of navigation and a major commercial corridor that facilitates international trade," Austin said in the statement.

"Countries that seek to uphold the foundational principle of freedom of navigation must come together to tackle the challenge posed by this non-state actor launching ballistic missiles and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) at merchant vessels from many nations lawfully transiting international waters."

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels are located in Yemen where they have been waging a civil war for roughly a decade against the internationally recognized government of Yemen, which is supported by the Saudi-led coalition forces.

Since the war between Hamas and Israel began on Oct. 7, the Houthis have attacked civilian infrastructure in Israel and commercial shipping vessels in the Red Sea, which is an important international shipping lane.

The Houthi rebels have vowed to target all Israel-bound ships traveling through the region in response to Israel's "ongoing horrific massacres, genocide and siege against Palestinians in Gaza," Houthi spokesman Yahya Sare'e said in a statement.

On the same day Austin unveiled Operation Prosperity Guardian, Sare'e said the Houthi military attacked two Israel-connected ships, oil carrier Swan Atlantic and the MSC Clara container vessel, with seadrones.

"The Yemeni armed forces reassure all ships heading to all ports across the world, except for Israeli ports, would be safe and must keep the identifying devices open," he said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, while referring to the Houthi militants as the Yemeni armed forces.

"The Yemeni armed forces vowed to continue to prevent the navigation of vessels heading to Israel until enough food and medicine are allowed into #Gaza, where our steadfast brothers are in dire need of inside the Strip."

U.S. Central Command confirmed the attack against Swan Atlantic occurred at about 9 a.m., local time, Monday.

The Cayman Islands flagged vessel was attacked by a drone and anti-ship ballistic missiles from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

The ship required assistance and the USS Carney, the closest U.S. warship, which responded, it said.

At the same time, Clara reported an explosion in the waters near its location, and did not request support or report damage, CENTCOM added.

"There were no injuries reported during either incident."

It was just the latest in a series of attacks that have some companies reconsidering their shipping routes. On Monday, British oil behemoth BP announced it would no longer use the Red Sea due to the "deteriorating security situation."

When asked about the increase in attacks by Houthi rebels on Monday during a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, before the announcement of Operation Prosperity Guardian, Austin said they were building an international coalition to address the threat.

"I would remind you, that this is not just a U.S. issue, this is an international problem, and it deserves an international response," he said. "We'll have more details on this soon. But we're going to make sure that we're doing everything that we can to ensure freedom of navigation in the area."

A virtual ministerial meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday to also discuss the issue, he said.