French Navy Launch First Operation Under EU’s Mission In Red Sea

Hours following the E.U. Council’s confirmation of its Red Sea defensive program launch, the French armed forces reported their first actions under their mission, the EUNAVFOR ASPIDES. The French navy has been super active in the zone since it decided to proceed independently of the U.S.-headed Operation Prosperity Guardian; it also underlined the overnight activities in that region.

The General Staff associated with the Armed Forces reported that Multi-Mission Frigates overnight spotted multiple drone attacks from Yemen in respective patrol areas in the Gulf of Aden as well as in waters of the southern Red Sea. This followed an active day wherein a Houthi spokesperson explained how they targeted two commercial vessels and successfully shot down one U.S. drone.

The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations further reported that the drones had been closely monitoring a vessel in the Red Sea for nearly 30 minutes. France mentioned that its forces destroyed an unspecified number of drones. In a statement, the General Staff said that the actions led to maritime security, from the Suez Canal to the Strait of Hormuz, and also resulted in the defense of freedom of navigation, the aim of the EUNAVFOR ASPIDES launched by the E.U. on 19 February per Greek command.

For the first time in three weeks a CMA CGM container vessel, Jules Verne which measures 186,470 dwt sailed in the Red Sea. The firm also confirmed the trip in a statement to a news source, saying, in coordination with the French naval forces, Jules Verne, the CMA CGM transited the Red Sea without an incident, escorted safely by the frigate dubbed Alsace. The CMA CGM is not willing to comment further on the safety of crew members and vessels. CMA CGM had stopped all forms of transits in the waters of the Red Sea on 1 February after one of the vessels had been targeted by the Houthis.

Before that, the shipping firm had decided on a case-by-case basis by sending a restricted number of vessels via the waters of the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, while the CEO named Rodolphe Saade had informed the Financial Times that it was quite a challenge as they were delayed as they were waiting for their escorts. He had said the security issues were causing massive disruptions in the firm’s schedule, but the crew’s safety and vessels were the primary concern.

The CMA CGM Jule, Verne measuring 11,5 and 8 TEU, registered with Malta, operates on the Mediterranean Club Express channel. The AIS tracking report highlighted that she sailed in the Suez Canal on 12 February and made a scheduled port call in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah. Yesterday, 19 February, her AIS reflected her position in Djibouti, understood as an unscheduled stop, as the vessel headed toward its next port, Port Klang of Malaysia.

The E.U. officials mentioned yesterday that they were expecting to have four vessels in the waters of the Red Sea zone under its new mission in place in the next few weeks, without confirming the names of the countries that would be supporting this operation.

It was also expected initially that France would be contributing, along with Germany, which has dispatched a frigate to the Mediterranean before a vote by parliament by the end of this week. Denmark has a frigate in the Red Sea following the most recent approval via the parliament.

Reference: TOI

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